Trey
by trichloroethane
Summary: AU. Daisuke is the abused nephew of Krad Hikari, Trey's most powerful lord. Dark is the son of Trey's most powerful lady. What happens when the two meet? Yaoi, obviously. Revised version of 'One Day, One Time, One Love'. COMPLETE
1. Welcome To Castle Hikari

Castle Hikari:  
  
Chapter: 1  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own DN Angel, I never have, and I never will. Please do not attempt to sure me because I won't have anything to give you anyways. Thanks!!!  
  
Warnings: shounen ai later on, OOC, fluff, weirdness, AU, presence of a few OCs, child abuse.  
  
A/N: Lady Yuki is my OC and no one made her up for me...yeah. Oh yeah, I'm also looking for a beta reader, please email me at if you don't mind reading through the trash that I write. This fic is dedicated to my DN Angel mad friend, whose name I won't mention due to safety reasons. On with the story!  
  
A dish crashed against the wall, narrowly missing a red haired teenager's head. The boy gulped hard, his gaze fixed on the blond haired man in front of him. "You clumsy fool!" growled the blond, his voice showing anger and agitation. "How long have you been serving me wine for?" The red head cowered, unable to say even a single word. "Well?" demanded the blond. "How long?"  
  
"S-seven ye-ye-years, s-sir," the boy stammered, terrified by the anger in the other man's voice.  
  
"Right. Seven years. So why on earth did you spill that wine on the floor?" shouted the blond, also known as Lord Krad Hikari. The wine in question lay on the floor, staining the stone a deep red.  
  
"Pl-please, sir, i-it-it was an accident," the boy pleaded. "I tripped, and- "he was cut off by a slap across his face.  
  
"Niwa," Krad said, investing all the scorn into his voice at that word. "How many times to do I have to tell you? Clumsiness is not an excuse! You should not fall all of a sudden and spill wine all over the place! You are the worst fool I have ever met! If it hadn't been for that fool oath that your mother made me swear in front of thirteen witnesses, you would not be here at all!"  
  
Niwa, better known to the castle as Daisuke, trembled before his uncle. The reason he was kept on was because his mother had been Lord Krad's sister and said lord had sworn in front of witnesses to take care of any children that his sister left behind. Krad did not love his nephew-in fact, he hated him-but the binding oath, strengthened by magic, and the witnesses forced Krad to provide Daisuke with all the basic necessities. Unfortunately, the contract had not stated how much the young Niwa was to be provided with, and therefore Daisuke ate whatever the servants ate, and in the same quantities. He was also forced to sleep in the hay loft. Even though this would not be considered as proper treatment, the promise had only been to make sure that Daisuke was given a roof over his head, food and water. This meant that even if Daisuke were to complain, no one would be able to do anything about it because the terms were satisfied.  
  
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again..." Daisuke's voice trailed off as he noticed an evil smile growing on Krad's face.  
  
"Come here, boy," Krad's voice was suddenly soft. Daisuke swallowed hard and slowly walked towards his uncle. From behind his back, Krad produced a whip.  
  
That night, Daisuke lay on the haystacks, trying hard to hold back tears. His uncle had almost made mincemeat of his back and chest with that knife. Why? Thought Daisuke, why does Karad like hurting me and abusing me so much? I haven't done anything to him...Not for the first time, the teenager cried himself to sleep that night, his body still hurting from the cuts that he had received.  
  
Next morning  
  
"Daisuke," It was loud. Well, to Daisuke, anyways. Turning his back to the source of the sound, he burrowed deeper into the haystacks and tried to muffle the noise.  
  
"G' 'way, dun wanna wake up..." mumbled the half-asleep red head.  
  
"Wake up Daisuke, it's two hours past cock's crow," the voice said, gentle but firm. At these words, Daisuke shot up and rushed to the main part of the castle, heading straight for the kitchen. Smirking slightly, a blue haired boy walked after Daisuke, quietly adjusting his glasses as he did so.  
  
When the blue haired teenager arrived at the kitchen, he found his fiery friend dunking his head into the basin that all the servants used for washing their faces. "Satoshi..." Daisuke pouted, annoyed at being woken up early, "What did you do that for?"  
  
"You didn't look like you were going to wake up any time soon," the other boy replied. "Long night?" Daisuke nodded silently, feeling the pains go up his back. Satoshi regarded him sympathetically. "Tell you what, I'll give you something to put on those cuts after you're done washing up, how about that?" Daisuke looked up, his eyes beginning to sparkle again. "Wow, thanks, Satoshi-san!"  
  
Satoshi nodded. "And you know what else?"  
  
"No," Daisuke said. "What?"  
  
"Lady Yuki's coming to visit with her son, Dark. Isn't that cool?"  
  
Daisuke nodded enthusiastically. Even though he was a teenager, he still sometimes acted like a happy five year old. The fact that Dark was also coming made Daisuke blink a little. Even though he liked Lady Yuki a lot- she had given him his first toy and reading and writing lessons, he still wasn't sure about her son. He'd never met Dark before; he'd only visited once, and that had been when Daisuke was sick with fever. This meant that he'd never even seen Dark before. However, this didn't dampen Daisuke's anticipation for long. "When's she coming?"  
  
"Today," Satoshi answered, a small smile appearing on his face again. He had a soft spot in his otherwise cold heart for the younger boy. The innocence in him just seemed so...preserved.  
  
"Wow, how come I didn't know?" asked Daisuke, munching a loaf of bread that one of the Harada twins (also servants) had given him.  
  
Satoshi, ever eloquent, shrugged. "Maybe you were...oh, never mind."  
  
Daisuke frowned. "What?" Again Satoshi shrugged, his eyes telling Daisuke that he already knew the answer. The other boy's eyes then opened wide in realization and he looked down, already feeling a little ashamed.  
  
"Don't worry, Daisuke," Satoshi said quietly, "Krad's just a sadistic bastard. Don't let him get to you."  
  
"Really?" Daisuke looked up at the taller boy, his eyes asking for reassurance. Satoshi nodded. "Thanks, Satoshi."  
  
"You're welcome. Better go now; Krad sounds like he's woken up."  
  
Daisuke nodded, grabbed Krad's special washing basin and ran up the flights of stairs. Satoshi shook his head and turned around, ready to supervise the rest of the kitchen staff.  
  
An hour later  
  
The bells chimed, signaling the arrival of a visitor to the castle. All the servants and staff flocked down to the courtyard, ready to welcome Lady Yuki. She was well known throughout the whole castle for her kindness, which they rarely received from Lord Krad. Many also anticipated the second sight of Dark-they remembered him as a mischievous but kind child who was always ready for some fun. As the grand carriage rolled through the huge gates, all the servants bowed as it passed them. They meant their bows too- Lady Yuki always gave people the feeling that they were wanted and needed in the world, and that they all meant something to her. When the carriage stopped and the doors opened, all the servants craned their necks eagerly, trying to see into the carriage.  
  
Lady Yuki stepped out of her carriage and smiled at the crowd in front of her. From behind, her son shifted uneasily. She knew that he liked attention, but he only liked it if it was awe. He didn't like people staring at him as though they'd never seen anyone quite like him before. "Now Dark, remember to be kind to everyone, even if they are servants," she whispered to her son. He meant well, she knew, but his sharp tongue and intolerance for idiots often led him into trouble. Right now, though, Dark was the very epitome of what a Lady's son should be like. Suddenly, Yuki noticed a small fuss beginning at the back of the crowd and slowly working its way forward. Krad, she thought to herself with a little amusement. No one else would be that ostentatious. Years of visiting Krad had made her accustomed to his attention demanding ways. She didn't like the man much, but she still had to visit him, in order to keep up appearances. Behind her, Dark stepped out of the carriage and stood beside his mother. Not for the first time, the crowd stirred and muttered. They could not believe that a son could look so much unlike his mother. Dark looked nothing like her- the only physical asset that he had from his mother was her dark amethyst eyes. Where she was fair haired, he was dark-purple, to be exact. His name suited him. The crowd continued to stir and mutter as he and his mother stood there.  
  
Dark let his eyes roam over the crowd-the usual hair colours. Brown, black, blond-they were all there. A flash of red suddenly caught his eye, and the purple haired teen turned around. He caught sight of a servant boy, who looked to be around his age. Curiously, the boy had crimson eyes that matched with his hair. Their eyes met for a moment, and strangely, the boy blushed and disappeared. Dark turned his attention back to the crowd in front of him and smirked. Just at that moment, Krad appeared in front of Yuki and Dark, wearing his most winning smile. "Ah, Yuki," he said, playing the part of the charming host, "Welcome to Castle Hikari."

* * *

Read and review please! I really need to know if you guys like this fic. Thanks for reading if you got all the way here!! Any ideas? Just tell me please! Thank you so much!! 


	2. Meetings

**Chapter: 2**  
  
Disclaimer: In the first chapter, don't sue me for goodness' sake. It's not like you'll get any personal gain anyway. On with the story!  
  
A/N: Thanks goes to MissyIrene and wingzero0406 for their reviews...thanks you two!! I mean it!!   
  
**Part 2**  
  
Dark stared at the blond man in front of him. So this is the famous Krad Hikari, he thought to himself. He could pass for an angel, if his eyes weren't His thoughts were interrupted by Krad's voice. "Well Dark, you've certainly grown since I last saw you!" Dark nodded in reply, still too stunned to answer properly. As well as Krad's cold eyes, Dark's mind was filled with images of the redhead that he had seen before. The boy had an innocent beauty that was rare in anyone. He heard his mother clearing her throat, a signal that he should say something in reply, but his mouth would not work.   
  
"I apologize for my son, Krad. He's just...a little shy," Yuki said quickly. Dark played along, lowering his head. Krad nodded, trying to look like he understood, even though he didn't. After all, he wanted to keep Lady Yuki's favor-it simply would not do if she found out that Daisuke was his nephew. Dark suddenly felt a rush of disgust and contempt towards the man in front of him, even though he didn't remember the man very well-after all, the last time he had visited was when he had been around four or five. Come to think of it, he didn't remember seeing that redhead the last time he was here, either. Why, in the name of the five Hoshi, am I thinking about him now? Perhaps it was because he was annoyed at himself for letting his mind wander, but Dark felt his disgust at Krad grow even more. Everything about the man started to annoy him-his mannerisms, his face, his smile; even his stupid hairstyle was irritating! Who would want a giant bang of hair right in the middle of their face anyway? Stupid thing, really. Lady Yuki must have also sensed her son's animosity towards the lord, for she quickly placed a small hand on Krad's shoulder and suggested that they go into the castle. Krad nodded and 'graciously' escorted Lady Yuki into the castle, leaving Dark in the care of two servants who looked as though they were professional assasins.   
  
**In Dark's Room**  
  
Dark scowled fiercely at the richly furnished bedroom he had been 'shown' to, although in his humble opinion, he had seen friendlier City Jails. Well. Apparently his mother and Krad-he was not going to give that stuck up prig his title!-wanted some 'alone' time. Throwing himself onto the large plush red chair, Dark mulled over various activities that would keep him occupied until dinner-time. Just at that moment, the servant boy's face popped up in his mind again and being the curious boy that he was, Dark decided to track the teen down, or at least garner some information about him. Yes; Dark decided, that would do very well indeed. In fact, it might even keep him occupied after dinner. _Admit it,_ the young lord's inner voice teased, _you like him._ Bouncing to his feet (and ignoring the little voice in his head), Dark walked into the corridors of Castle Hikari.   
  
**In The Kitchens**  
  
Risa Harada, one of the Harada twins, was bubbling with delight over the glimpse she had caught of Dark. The girl had been one of the many servants in the courtyard who had seen Dark and Lady Yuki arrive. At the moment, she was telling Daisuke about Dark's wonderful smile and grace-for the ninth time. However, the redhead didn't seem to care; his crush on Risa was so powerful that he would have paraded around the castle in his birthday suit just to talk to her. Satoshi passed the chatting pair for the third time since Risa had cornered Daisuke and could not repress a small smirk at the other boy, who promptly began blushing from the roots of his flame-red hair right down to the tips of his toes. The normally cool features of Satoshi Hitawari, often called the Ice Prince of the Kitchens (behind his back of course), continued to smirk at Daisuke. The servants passing by noticed the blue eyed boy's evil smirk, looked at each other, gulped and ran away, praying that they would not get into trouble. Noting the (now) homicidal look on Daisuke's face, Satoshi snickered quietly and left before he could be injured. Risa, however, babbled happily on, blissfully unaware of the silent exchange that had just gone on right under her nose. "Did you see his eyes? Aren't they the most...Dai-chan? Hello? Dai-chan?" Risa waved her hand in front of the already embarrassed Daisuke. Said boy suddenly jerked back to life and turned an even more violent shade of red.   
  
"Huh? Oh, sorry, Risa-chan! I didn't..." Daisuke trailed off, his wits haven fallen out of the proverbial window long beforehand. Just then, the object of Risa's affections walked into the kitchen, amethyst eyes alight with mischief and a smirk playing around his lips. Some of the serving maids and other women in the kitchen passing Dark squealed with delight and one passed out, but other than that, everything continued as normal.   
  
Daisuke blinked when he saw a woman fall to the ground at Dark's feet, but seeing that she was soon carried off by a bunch of other girls, he decided to ask the young lord what he was doing in the kitchens. So this is Dark. Well, he does look kinda nice...I just hope that he's not like Krad...Approaching the purple haired teen, Daisuke lowered his head and asked respectfully, "Excuse me my lord, are you in need of something?"  
  
Dark looked around, anxious to find the redhead he'd seen earlier on in the day. The teen was a kitchen worker; he was sure of that much. A soft voice then startled him out of his daze and Dark turned his gaze towards the speaker. What luck, he though, I look for someone and he comes to me instead. Dark's smirk grew even wider, and another serving maid who just happened to be passing by squealed in delight. Looking down, Dark felt a sense of something that he couldn't quite identify grow in his chest. It made him want to grab the boy in front of him and never let go. The redhead was even more beautiful than when he'd first appeared to Dark in the courtyard. "Yes," Dark replied, in answer to Daisuke's question. "I was looking for someone..." Dark continued, dropping a slight hint into the phrase. He expected Daisuke to pick it up and play along. However, Daisuke being as naïve as ever, frowned and looked around the kitchen.   
  
"I'm sorry, but no...nobles have come down here today."  
  
Dark chuckled. "Oh no, little one. I meant...someone. But I've found him already, I see," Daisuke could not, for the life of him, figure out what on earth the young lord in front of him was talking about. Just then, realization hit him and he flushed crimson. "What's your name?" Dark suddenly asked. Surprised (and still a little stunned from Dark's implication), Daisuke jerked his head up, forgetting who he was talking to. As a result, Dark got a better look at the redhead's face and could not hold himself back. "You're so kawaii!" the heir to Estate Metane squealed, clutching the stunned teen to his chest. Daisuke spluttered and coughed, trying desperately to regain the use of his lungs. As well as this, his wounds from the night before had reopened, and pain blazed through his senses.   
  
"Gah..." Dark was startled out of his kawaii moment when he felt the young boy in his arms go limp. Looking downwards, the purple haired boy noticed that his pet's face was turning the same shade of purple as his hair. "I'm so sorry!" Dark apologized, quickly releasing the redhead. It was too late though; Daisuke fell to the floor with an audible thump. By now, a small crowd of servants had gathered around the pair, curious to see who had managed to attract the heir to Metane. Suddenly Riku, Risa's twin, shrieked in horror and pointed at Daisuke, and the growing puddle of blood in the floor. The shriek brought Satoshi rushing in. One glance at Dark, Daisuke and the blood on the floor, and Satoshi jumped to conclusions. Dark, being the only noble around, seemed to be the only person who would have the nerve to do such a thing, and Satoshi started seeing red. Daisuke was like the little brother that he had never had, and it was his duty to protect the redhead as such.   
  
"You!" Satoshi shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Dark. "You beat him, didn't you?" Some small part of Satoshi's brain told him that he should not accuse the master's guests, but the blue haired boy was beyond caring now. Shoving the stray thought into the back of his head, Satoshi let the rage inside him build; who would DARE hit Daisuke anyway? Dark quickly interrupted Satoshi, before he could continue.  
  
"I didn't hit him! Ask anyone here!" Risa, always the one to defend Dark (or whoever she had a crush on), vouched for the purple haired lord. Then the cook, then Akarrin, assistant to the Head Chef. One by one, the whole crowd vouched for Dark's innocence in the whole matter. Outnumbered, Satoshi could not do anything but apologize to Lady Yuki's heir. T his surprise, the young lord accepted the apology gracefully, and even made one of his own. Satoshi relaxed a little further, but grabbed Daisuke and pulled him out of the kitchen, at the same time trying to staunch the flow of blood from the redhead's cuts. Dark hesitated, unsure of whether to follow Satoshi or go back upstairs. When he caught a glimpse of Daisuke's pale face, however, Dark decided that he was going to stay by his...fine. His crush. Or love. Or whatever it was. Turning around, Dark followed Satoshi and left the servants in the kitchen to gossip over what had just happened.   
  
**Satoshi's Room**  
  
Satoshi hastily rummaged through his drawers, looking for the special herb ointment that he had gotten from Miranda (the peddler's daughter) and bandages. Unlike most of her father's remedies, Miranda's ointment actually did work wonders. Feeling another presence in the room besides that of Daisuke, Satoshi turned around and saw Dark sitting next to Daisuke's limp form, holding the red-headed boy's hand. Satoshi knew that his friend had passed out from blood loss, pain and exhaustion. After all, the boy had only had a loaf of bread at dawn, and Lord Krad had kept Daisuke running around the palace doing menial chores all morning, so it was really no surprise. Satoshi and Dark looked at each other, the awkward silence between them stretching. Finally, Dark asked quietly, "Who is he?"  
  
Satoshi eyed the lord in front of him with mistrust. "Why?" he asked in reply, continuing to look for the bandages. At the silence behind him, he turned around. "Well?" the blue haired boy demanded. The look that Satoshi received from Dark was one of pure surprise. Apparently, the purple haired boy hadn't thought that his question would have been answered by anything other than the truth. Satoshi, upon seeing the slightly baffled look on Dark's face, gave in and with his ointments and bandages walked over to the bed where Daisuke was lying. "His name's Daisuke. Daisuke Niwa. I won't say any more, because it's really not my information to tell."   
  
Dark's face brightened up, and he inwardly promised himself that come hell or high water, he would win Daisuke's heart. _Ooh, not in denial anymore, are we?_ His evil inner voice taunted.   
  
You shut up.  
  
_Fine._   
  
To Satoshi's surprise, Dark smiled-was it tenderly?-at the unconscious redhead. "Daisuke," he whispered the name as though it were something precious, to be treated with the utmost care, "Daisuke Niwa."  
  
Daisuke stirred, finally returning to the living world. The first things he saw were a pair of amethyst eyes gently shimmering above him. Only one person had that eye colour... "Lord...Dark?" he croaked out.

* * *

Hoshi-In Japanese, it means star. The expression 'Five Hoshi' is just what people in Trey say (no rhyme intended), similar to "What on earth..." for us. Random fact.  
  
Reviews are craved and eagerly accepted...yeah. Also, I tried to make this kind of romantic, but whatever. 


	3. Confessions and Other Such Charming Thin...

**Confessions and Other Such Charming Things:**

Chapter: 3

Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel, please don't sue me!

A/N: Okay...major OOC-ness here. I'm still trying to think of the best way that Daisuke and Dark hook-up...lol. Anyhow, this is mainly fluff...so please bear with me! Also, I'm gonna make this chapter extra long (or at least, try to) because I'll be out of town for a week and away from my computer...yeah.

_Italics _= Evil Dark's thoughts, or other character's thoughts.

blah blah = Dark's thoughts.

Disclaimer: It was in the FIRST chapter, don't sue me for the love of...never mind. Anyhow, for the second time, DN Angel does not belong to me; no one in this whole story belongs to me except Lady Yuki. The only thin I own is my story notebook, my sketchbook and my nice green writing pen and black liner pen. On with the story!

* * *

Dark grinned from ear to ear as he saw his 'pet' come back to life, or more accurately, regain consciousness. Noticing how pale his friend still looked, Satoshi quickly peeled Daisuke's bloody shirt off and began dabbing ointment onto the cuts. Daisuke winced as the ointment touched his wounds and made them sting. "Ouch! Satoshi, that hurt!"

"Calm down Daisuke, you need to lie through this, or else your back may start to rot," Satoshi said, his voice calm and business-like as ever. Dark, upon seeing Daisuke's slightly pained expression, decided to help as well. Gently holding Daisuke's hand, he set about trying to soothe the redhead (who was currently grimacing and making pained faces).

"Now p-I mean, Daisuke, you know that this..." the lord was cut off by Daisuke's glare. "What?" Dark asked, fervently hoping that Daisuke wouldn't get angry at him for re-opening his cuts.

"You!" Daisuke yelled. "Satoshi, don't trust him! He's a pervert, and he's GAY!" The blue-eyed boy's head jerked upwards to look at Dark's face. The purple haired boy could do nothing but smile sheepishly.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Him?" Satoshi ground out, hoping that the boy-he would not call the person 'Lord' in front of him if it cost his life!-had not molested Daisuke, or worse. Dark winced at the tone in Satoshi's voice, but somehow managed to put together a coherent enough explanation about everything. Of course, Dark left out the section about his feelings-not only would they embarrass him even more, they would probably make Satoshi hate him even more than he did right now. The furious expression on Satoshi's face faded away to be replaced by his usual mask of indifference. Dark lowered his head and waited for Satoshi to throw him out of the tiny room, but to his amazement, nothing happened. Cautiously, the purple haired boy looked up to see Satoshi Hiwatari (also known as the Ice Prince and who the younger Dark had used to call 'creepy bastard') with a small smile on his face. Wait a minute... Dark thought, Is he _amused _at me?!

At the end of the tale, Satoshi desperately tried not to burst out laughing at Dark's mournful expression and also at the story itself. _Poor Daisuke, _he thought, wrestling with the laughter that threatened to bubble out of him, _he must have had a nasty shock when Dark hugged him like a little girl hugs her doll! _His thoughts were soon interrupted by Dark's indignant look though, and that did it. Satoshi burst out laughing and the look on Dark's face went from indignant to rueful amusement. "Yes, I suppose I did play the part of the obsessed fan to perfection, didn't I?" Satoshi nodded with that annoying smirk still on his face. Dark finally realized that Satoshi and Daisuke were probably wishing that he was out of the room right now, so that they could talk a little. Who would have thought that the Ice Prince had a warm core? Reluctantly, Dark stood up and said formally, "Thank you creepy-I mean, Hiwatari-sama, for not kicking me out and listening to my side of the story before judging. Daisuke, I hope we meet again in...more pleasant situations. I am sorry that I hurt your back and...if you need anything...just come to me," and with those words, Dark swept out of the room, not even waiting for the replies. Satoshi and Daisuke gave each other puzzled looks, shrugged and went back to what they were doing beforehand.

_Well, that sure went well, didn't it? _Taunted Evil Dark.

You shut up.

_Why should I? _

Because you won't like the results if you don't.

_Really now, I would have thought that your blood would have cooled by now. Still thinking of the pretty boy? _

"Just shut up!" Dark yelled, accidentally forgetting that he was in a corridor filled with servants. Looking around, the purple haired boy saw that all the servants had stopped and were staring at him. Suddenly...

"DARK!" A shriek cut through the otherwise silent corridor, jolting everyone back to life. "I've found you at last! Did you know how long I had to look around for?!" Risa shot out of a door and cannoned right into Dark, effectively knocking said boy back a few paces.

"Wha...who are you, anyways?" Dark, still a little irritated from the 'chat' he'd had with his not-so-nice alter ego. Noticing the saddened look on Risa's face, Dark immediately tried to soften his tone a little. "I'm sorry, I was just...surprised. What was your name?"

Risa's lower lip trembled and she looked like she was about to burst into tears. Just as Dark was bracing himself for a tidal wave of tears, he heard another girl's soft voice next to his ear. "Risa. Risa Harada."

Dark thanked whoever had whispered into his ear silently and faced the now teary-eyed girl. "Gomen Risa-chan, I didn't realize who you were. Don't worry though," he added hastily, seeing Risa's eyes fill up even more, "I remember you now."

The girl soon switched from tears to happiness and with a smile, she gave Dark a tray of...what, he wasn't quite sure. Some of the little lumps were black, some were grey, some were brown and one of them was even green! Dark's face screwed up a little in an attempt to figure out what the dubious looking lumps were. "Do you like them?" Risa asked, her eyes shining with hope. Dark swallowed hard, still trying to figure out what on earth the little lumps were.

"Uh...thank you very much for the...food, Risa, I will really enjoy it!" Dark hoped that the little lumps were indeed food, and not some weird toy or whatever. Seeing the look of utter delight on the serving maid's face, Dark thanked his lucky stars. The moment was then interrupted by Krad's loud voice calling for Dark. Trying to smile at the girl, Dark clutched the tray in both hands and ran off, muttering an apology to the distraught girl. I'm going to ask Daisuke just exactly _what _these things are when I get the chance.

**Satoshi's Room **

After Dark's abrupt departure, Daisuke and Satoshi were left alone in the little room. Sighing, Satoshi placed bandages on the now cream smeared wounds and the two boys chatted idly. Finally, Satoshi decided to ask Daisuke what had happened in the kitchen again, in order to confirm Dark's story. After all, just because he was a lord didn't mean that he couldn't lie-heck, Krad lied just about every time he opened his mouth! "Daisuke, what happened in the kitchen?"

The redhead's face went blank at first, and then as memory dawned on him, the light of understanding filled his eyes. "Nothing, Lord Dark didn't lie. I just don't understand though," he added, a confused look. Satoshi frowned, his curiosity piqued. After all, Daisuke was a pretty bright boy, if a little naïve.

"Come on Daisuke, what wouldn't you understand about anything that happened? I mean, it's all pretty straightforward," Satoshi said. As well as wanting to know what had Daisuke boggled, Satoshi himself was pretty curious to know what Daisuke thought about the hug that Dark gave him.

"Well..." Daisuke said, blushing furiously, "Why did Dark hug me? I mean, people always hug people that they like, but who would ever want to...hug me? Especially a rich lord like him, he has everything! Why would he hug a worthless little..." he was abruptly cut off by Satoshi, who was horrified at the other boy's opinion of himself. _That bastard Krad, _the blue-haired boy thought furiously. _How dare he mar Daisuke's opinion of himself like that? How _dare _he?!_ At the look of fear on the redhead's face though, Satoshi hastily smoothed out the features on his face. He was sure that they must have been twisted in rage and frustration at not being able to do anything about Krad, though whether Daisuke would understand was another matter altogether. After all, the kid had been traumatized since the age of two when he'd watched his mother, father and the rest of his family die of the epidemic that had gone through Trey. Add that to the little fact that Krad had started beating the poor boy when he turned four and you had a potential recipe for disaster. However, Satoshi's worries were soon dissipated as Daisuke shrugged. "We all hate Krad, but maybe...maybe he's good deep inside."

Satoshi snorted. Yes, the Ice Prince snorted in disgust, and Daisuke could not help but giggle a little at his friend's reaction to the statement. "Yeah, sure, and pigs will fly," Satoshi stated sarcastically as Daisuke's giggles turned into outright laughter. The redhead loved it when he made his normally detached friend show at least a small (but obvious) hint of emotion. Besides, it took a lot to shake the ice-cool demeanor off the blue-haired boy to the extent that he would actually do something to obvious as snort. Anyhow...back to the story. Daisuke then remembered that Satoshi certainly hadn't answered his question. "So, Satoshi-chan, why did Lord Dark hug me?"

Satoshi's look of disgust slid off his face as quickly as a greasy egg slides off a warm plate, only to be replaced by a look of utter shock. _Okay...I should have known this kind of talk was going to come up at some point. I just don't know if I'm the right person to tell him about _that. "Uh..." the normally articulate (although quiet) boy managed to stammer out. For once in his whole life, when someone asked him to say something and he actually _wanted _to answer, Satoshi Hiwatari was struck completely dumb. Daisuke looked up at his friend's shocked face and frowned in confusion. What was Satoshi so shocked about, anyway? It was just a little hug, nothing big. So why wasn't he getting an answer to his question?

"Hello, Trey to Satoshi Hiwatari!" Upon receiving no reply from the boy, Daisuke waved his hand in front of the stunned boy's face. When still failing to receive any response from the other, the redhead resorted to more drastic measures...such as the usage of 'chan' in connection with 'Satoshi'. Of course, this resulted in a very annoyed blue-haired boy chasing the (now laughing wildly) redhead out of the back rooms and into the main kitchen. Daisuke rushed past Akarrin, Takeshi, Kiarra and a whole bunch of other kitchen staff before reaching Riku, who was carefully taking a tray of bread out of the oven. Of course, being slightly preoccupied with saving his own skin at the time, Daisuke crashed right into Riku, causing her to drop the tray and the bread. Satoshi, hell-bent on catching Daisuke, did not see the bread rolls and trod on them by mistake. Of course, since bread rolls are _round _shaped, they are slippery and they will either make you scream in frustration or make you fall over, in this case the latter. Satoshi trod on a particularly large roll and only managed to keep his balance for a few moments before falling over, his arms flailing wildly. He smacked Riku soundly in the face by mistake and both boy and girl fell to the ground with a loud crash. Meanwhile, Daisuke was standing in a corner, laughing himself silly at the pair.

Satoshi looked up, seriously unhappy and freaked out now. Apart from the fact that he'd just crushed a few-okay, fine, many of Lord Krad's favourite bread rolls-not that he cared-he'd also annoyed Riku-san. The girl was renowned for her incredible ability to wield a rolling pin with amazing force and accuracy, and she was not likely to leave him alone just because he was in charge of everyone in the kitchens. The blue-haired boy's thoughts were interrupted by Daisuke however-the boy still wanted to know why Lord Dark had hugged him. _This is just not my day..._Satoshi thought, as he covered his head and tried (vainly) to protect himself from Riku's angry blows.

A few minutes (and four smacks on the head) later, Satoshi and Daisuke found themselves in the back rooms again, this time with their positions reversed. Satoshi was now the one sitting on the bed and Daisuke was the one applying soothing poultices to the other's head. "So," Daisuke said conversationally, "why do you think Lord Dark hugged me?"

Satoshi sighed. _I want to tell him the truth, but I think it will be easier for him if he hears it from Dark's own lips..._

"Daisuke," Satoshi said firmly and gently, "maybe you should go and see Lord Dark tonight, after the feast. I mean, he might be able to tell you better than I could about why he hugged you."

Daisuke pondered this idea for a moment, and then shook his head. "I can't," the redhead whispered. "What if Lord Krad sees me and starts asking questions? You know I can't lie, Satoshi; what am I going to tell him?"

"Just say you're going to see Dark. It's not exactly the truth, but it's not a lie either. You get my drift?" Daisuke nodded, hoping that the answer would satisfy Krad if indeed he chanced to meet with the man. Satoshi smiled again at Daisuke. "Come on now-we have to finish the food for the feast, or else Krad will scalp us alive."

**Dinnertime, in the dining hall**

Dark stared into nothingness as he idly toyed with a fork. Krad, on the other hand, was basking in the attention that everyone was currently giving him. "...I would also like to welcome the Lady Yuki of Estate Metane, and her son, Dark!" The abovementioned boy slowly stood up and pasted a smirk to his face, pretending to be a noble. In fact, though, his mind was fully focused on the redhead, and how he wished that he had another chance to explain things properly to the cute teen. His mother, on the other hand, smiled at the crowd as though they were all her children. This, Dark was sure, was exactly what endeared Lady Yuki to the hearts of everyone that she had ever met. Daisuke...I hope we get to talk some more soon...I really want to tell you what happened...

Lady Yuki looked over at her son and inwardly smiled. She knew about his preferences, and had nothing against them. In fact, she had been spying on her son this afternoon, when he'd gone down to the kitchens. Hey, that was what her powers were for, right? To keep an eye on her mischievous son! Lady Yuki had a small amount of magic-just enough to perform minor deeds such as keeping sickness at bay, healing small cuts and of course, keeping an eye on her child. _Dark, Dark, _Yuki thought amusedly as she sat down, _I'm happy for you. If that young man is half the person I think he is, you will have a partner for life. _"Now..." Krad's voice said loudly, "Let us begin our wonderful feast!" With a loud roar of applause, the feast began.

**In the kitchens **

Daisuke peeped out into the large dining hall, his ruby red eyes widened in amazement. Although Lord Krad had hosted many feasts before, none could rival the one that was currently going on. Lords and ladies of every station crowded the room in their glittering clothes, like large, elegant butterflies. Satoshi, on the other hand, was disgusted. Despite the fact that he was roughly the same age as Daisuke, he was definitely more cynical. After all, when you had watched a drunken member of the nobility rape your mother and run your father through with a sword...well, these things tended to skew your perceptions of life. He hated watching the finely dressed lords and ladies playing at dress-up and pretending that nothing bad, nothing evil, nothing dark existed outside their little shimmering world of jewels, silks and perfumes. "Wow," whispered the slightly younger boy in awe, "There are so many people!"

Satoshi shrugged, unwilling to say anything. He had exceeded his day's word quota anyways, so he really didn't want to talk. "Satoshi?" Daisuke shot a look at his friend, who was staring at the large hall with contempt in his eyes. Tugging the other boy's sleeve (it was suicidal to tap the boy on the shoulder or touch him in any way), Daisuke managed to return the blue eyed boy back to the world. "....huh? Oh, yes?"

Daisuke looked at his friend with puzzlement in his red eyes. "Satoshi, why are you so angry?" For a teenager, Daisuke was amazingly innocent sometimes. It was one of the things that made him so appealing to everyone who really looked at him. Satoshi shook his head and smiled slightly at the boy. Although it was only a faint curve upwards, Daisuke had been around Satoshi long enough to read even the most minute changes in the other boy's face. Daisuke shrugged and continued to watch the feast, along with the other servants. Of course, Risa could not stop talking about Dark and the way that he'd accepted her cookies, all the while ignoring the evil looks from the Head Cook, Riku and Akarrin (Risa had managed to single-handedly use all the sugar and most of the flour).

**After dinner **

Dark stared moodily at the dancing crowds in front of him. No one had come over to ask him to dance yet, but his mother was waltzing away happily with that pathetic excuse for a man, Krad. _I really don't see what my mother sees in that man...I thought her taste was better..._Dark thought gloomily as he continued to stare at the crowd, wondering whether he could burn a hole through it with the power of his gaze. Suddenly, a large curtain of deep maroon obscured his view and the only thing the purple haired boy could do was look upwards, right into the smiling face of a young lady with long jet black hair and ice blue eyes. Dark inwardly sighed as the girl held out a slim, pale hand, taking it for granted that she would be accepted. After all, it was common gossip through the court that Lady Yuki was looking for a partner for her son and Dark was indeed one of the land's most eligible _single _nobles. Everyone also knew that Dark would soon have to take a wife and of course, all the women hoped that it would be them. However, Dark's mind was fully preoccupied with thoughts of Daisuke, which meant that said young lady was completely ignored for the better part of five minutes. "Ahem," the woman coughed, clearly trying to get Dark's attention. Snapping back to reality, the purple haired lord looked up and inwardly groaned. Oh no, not her! The lady's name was in reality, Eriaila Tai, otherwise known as the heir to Estate Michiya. Of course, Dark always referred to said female as 'her', simply because he could not bear to say her name. Eriaila had stalked the young heir to Estate Metane for as long as he could remember (even when they were young children) in the hopes of securing a husband for the near future. Despite her beauty, Eriaila was (in Dark's humble opinion), one of the worst people to be stuck in a room with. The girl was an incorrigible flirt, clueless and truly believed that the world loved her and would never harm her. As well as this, she was a scheming shrew (to put it bluntly) and she was exactly the type of person to shoot her own mother for personal gain. In short, Dark thought that Eriaila was a curse to Trey and the rest of the world. "So, Dark," Eriaila purred, her high-pitched voice attempting to sound seductive (but not getting there, of course!). "I hear you like some redhead named Daisuke, is that true?" Dark almost choked on air. How did she know?!

"What makes you think that?" Dark asked coolly as he stood up.

"Well, you _did _spend an awful lot of time in the kitchen this afternoon, and a little bird told me that you hugged him-do the math yourself, _genius_," Eriaila spat. "I won't let you forget this. We were meant to be together, don't you see?"

"No," Dark replied, the smirk back on his face. He vaguely registered that there was suddenly complete silence and that he had the undivided attention of the whole Hall, but he couldn't care less. He had had enough of Eriaila's 'I rule the world' attitude and her rudeness. "Is it any of your business if I do? And even if I do, who cares?" He was rewarded with an evil look from the young Tai as she stalked off. Dark sighed inwardly as he looked around and caught the small smirks on the faces of his so-called 'friends'. His murderous thoughts were interrupted by his mother's soft voice.

"Dark, maybe you should go upstairs, maybe you're not feeling well?" Lady Yuki asked. It wasn't out of concern for her son's welfare; she knew perfectly well that he was in good condition-she was giving him a chance to run away. Meanwhile in the wings, where all the servants who did not have to work were watching, Daisuke flushed furiously as the whole crowd's faces turned towards him in curiosity. Even Satoshi was rather nonplussed-he hadn't pegged Dark to be the type to go for boys. _Oh well, at least Daisuke knows now, _he thought rather wryly as the aforementioned redhead passed out at his feet.

**After the feast (clean-up time)**

Daisuke sneaked through the winding corridors of Castle Hikari, praying that he didn't bump into anyone who would ask questions. He needed to talk to Dark-and fast. Satoshi and Takeshi had offered to do his share of the work if he would do the same for them. _Dark had better be in his room, _Daisuke thought.

**Dark's room **

Dark opened the door to his room and looked around. Darkness-just like he'd expected. He whispered, "Rikare," and with a soft puff, the whole room was lit up. Closing the door behind him, the purple haired lord walked inside, a note clutched in his hand.

_-Flashback-_

_Dark stared at the note that had been dropped onto his plate by the Ice Prince Satoshi. At first, he had thought that it wasn't meant for him, but when the Head of the Kitchens had nodded at him the second time he passed by, Dark decided that it would have to be a gamble. Opening the note, he glanced at the contents, taking in all the information. It read: _

_Stay in your room tonight. _

_-End Flashback-_

Dark plopped down on the large couch in his room with the note still in his hand. Sure, the thought of an assassination had gone through his head when he'd first seen the note, but he had soon dismissed the thought. His mother's magic-not to mention his own greater power-would have warned him a long time ago. Besides, everyone knew better than to try to attack one of the most powerful people in Trey-the last person who had tried to do so had dropped dead of the plague. A knock on the door alerted Dark to a visitor. Wondering who it could be, he walked over.

Daisuke gulped as he stood in front of Dark's door. He knew that if the young lord hadn't gotten his note, he could very well be walking around in the gardens with Lady Yuki. Swallowing, the ruby-eyed boy knocked on the door and waited. It swung open two seconds later to reveal Dark, still dressed in all his feast clothes.

Dark looked down at Daisuke, puzzlement in his eyes. "Yes?" he asked as smoothly as possible, suppressing the urge to grab the boy and check him over for wounds. A little talk with Krad had revealed that Daisuke should not be treated the way he was. As well as finding out that Krad beat the teen on a regular basis, Dark found out that Daisuke was Krad's nephew. "Um..." Dark looked down and realized that Daisuke wasn't wearing clothes suited for the chill of the castle's large, chilly stone corridors. Without hesitation, the lord pulled the other teen into the room.

"Here, wear this," Dark said kindly, trying not to just jump the boy in front of him. Daisuke looked adorable in any circumstances, but now was a special moment. The way his eyes seemed to be always sparkling, the way he carried himself, the way innocence radiated off him, the way his lips seemed to be begging to be kissed- No! Dark scolded himself mentally.

_You know you want it..._

Shut up! 

_Have it your way. _

Daisuke shuffled his feet a little and looked up at Dark in surprise when the slightly older teen offered him a coat. "Wha...?" When his brain processed the information properly, Daisuke could only gulp in shock. Lords never offered commoners their coats to wear, especially not lowly kitchen servants! "Oh no, I can't take this my lord, it's..." Dark waved his protests away with a hand.

"Don't worry Daisuke, it's nothing. Really," Dark said, smiling slightly at the other boy. He wanted nothing more than to see Daisuke smile-come to think of it, he hadn't seen any other expression on the redhead's face other than confusion (and that little bout of anger when he'd woken up to see Dark in the back rooms of the kitchen). I'm going to make him smile, Dark quietly vowed to himself. "Daisuke...what are you here for?"

Daisuke shifted uncomfortably, opting to stare at his feet instead of at Lord Dark. He felt very shy, and suddenly Satoshi's idea didn't seem so easy anymore. What if Dark refused to tell him anything? What if he threw him out of the room? Or the worst: Report him to Lord Krad? He didn't want to risk another beating, seeing as he was still wounded from the last one. Dark seemed to sense the uneasiness coming from Daisuke and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner at the beauty in front of him. I'll just wait for him to say something first... Luckily for him, Dark didn't have to wait long. Keeping his eyes on the floor, Daisuke mumbled out, "Lord Dark...what did you hug me for?" At the shocked look on the purple haired teen's face, Daisuke panicked. _Crap, what if he reports me to Krad?! _On the contrary though, Dark actually smiled at the wide-eyed boy in front of him.

"Oh, you mean this afternoon in the kitchens?" Dark had the grace to blush slightly, remembering the feeling of having Daisuke in his arms. "Um..." this time, it was the usually confident teen's turn to fidget a little. Daisuke frowned; most people didn't usually fidget when asked such a simple question. Of course, boys didn't hug other boys, so maybe it would be harder to answer the question. Dark, having finally mustered up the courage to answer Daisuke honestly, looked at the shorter boy right in the eyes. "Daisuke...I like you...very much. That's why I hugged you," At the look on Daisuke's face though, Dark almost gulped. Would he be rejected?

Daisuke could not believe his ears. A powerful lord like Dark, liking him to the point of love? That was unheard of. A lord liking him was already close to impossible-this was starting to sound like one of those romantic scenes Risa was always talking about. "How can you like me?" Daisuke blurted out. "I'm just a kitchen servant!" All the things that Krad had forced him to learn went out the proverbial window. Daisuke had never been so mortified in his life. Suddenly, the full realization of his actions crashed down onto his head-he'd just shouted at a lord. Someone who was Lord Krad's friend. Daisuke quickly shut his eyes and bowed his head, waiting for the inevitable blow. However, it didn't come. Daisuke cautiously raised his head, only to see Dark looking at him with kind eyes, slowly shaking his head. The purple haired teen slowly walked towards the redhead, a small smirk on his face.

"Maybe you are, to the world. To me, you're...this," and with those words, Dark placed his hand on Daisuke's face and gently brought it up to his own. Daisuke blinked and could only stand there in shock as Dark's lips softly brushed over his own. _What the...? _Daisuke didn't understand why Dark was doing this to him. He had seen Akarrin and Takeshi doing this behind the stables one time, when he had been forced to sleep in the hayloft, but that was because they loved each other. It seemed that people did that whenever they loved each other, or so that was what Satoshi had told him at least-but surely Lord Dark didn't love him? So...what did he want?

Dark slowly closed his eyes, savoring the unique taste of Daisuke's lips. Mmmm....strawberries... Dark's mind registered that Daisuke wasn't responding to his kiss and reluctantly stopped. Opening his eyes and pulling away, amethyst orbs met wide crimson ones. Daisuke slowly pressed his fingers to his lips, the expression on his face half dazed, half disbelieving. "...Why?" Daisuke whispered, looking at Dark. All protocol be damned, this was definitely a question that had to be answered as soon as possible.

"Because..." Dark replied, his voice also a whisper, "Because...I think...I love you."

Daisuke stared stunned at Dark. _Did he just say what I think he said? _"You..." Dark nodded, wondering whether Daisuke would dash out of his room screaming at the top of his lungs. Well, he has a reason to...it's not exactly natural is it?

Daisuke looked at Dark, his heart beating a million times per second as his brain processed what had just happened in the space of a few minutes. _It didn't feel wrong though..._Daisuke thought as he remembered the kiss. He then noticed that Dark looked a little like a lost puppy as he waited for the typical disgusted reaction. Daisuke, unsure of whether he was doing the right thing, decided to go with his heart. Once, when he had talked to Satoshi, the blue-haired boy had told him to follow his heart whenever he was unsure about something. Well, now was just as good a time as any to test that theory. Daisuke slowly whispered, "Anou...Lord Dark..." he was cut off by Dark calmly telling him not to use the title. Daisuke tried again, this time not using Dark's name at all. "Uh...what...what..." Daisuke fumbled for words, trying to ask his question in a polite way.

"Just say it."

Daisuke looked up, shock in his eyes. Lord Dark was actually _willing _to listen to what he had to say? Lord Krad would have just screamed at him, and maybe thrashed him mercilessly for wasting his so-called 'valuable' time. "What...what did you do that for?" Daisuke asked.

Dark sighed. "I told you, I think...I think that...I think that I love you," he said, finally managing to get the words out. Daisuke's eyes widened in shock as his brain registered the words for the second time, driving the point home. "Daisuke...before you run..." The addressed redhead looked at Dark, puzzlement written in his eyes. "Do...do you hate me? For being what I am? You can just say your thoughts; I won't mind."

Daisuke thought about what he had just been asked. Did he feel that Lord Dark was doing something wrong and bad? The answer was no. Did he hate the man? Again, no. The ruby-eyed boy suddenly realized that his lips were still burning a little from the soft kiss that Dark had given him, and he shook his head. Risa's image flashed into his head for a moment, but he pushed it to the back of his head. His brain felt like it was turning into mush; the swirl of emotions that were assaulting him were too much and combined with the lack of a decent night's rest and the beating that Lord Krad had given him, Daisuke promptly passed out on the floor. Dark sighed as he looked at the limp form on his rug, in his room. _Come on, you know you want him..._Evil Dark chuckled as Dark picked up the redhead and placed him gently on the bed.

* * *

Bwahahahahahahahaha! Cliffhanger! Oh yeah, I apologise if you think this chapter is too short, it's just that I tried to make it at least ten pages on Word because publishing it. Also, it's like a 'Sorry' chapter to all those who waited so long for me to put a new chapter. I might not publish very much in the coming months though, because I have to go back to school lol. Anyhow, sappy little romance scene at the end (well, kind of romance scene). Well, I hope you enjoyed this one! Read and review please!!


	4. Trials and Tribulations

**Chapter 4: Trials and Tribulations:**

Disclaimer: I told you, I don't own DN Angel. If you still need a note...oh well.

A/N: Uh...well I think you should all know that this is Chapter 4 for my first DN Angel fanfic. I'm very sorry that it took so long for me to post this chapter up, it's just that I don't get very much free rein on the computer...so yeah. Thanks for all the support so far! Enjoy!

=blah blah=: Dark's thoughts

/blah blah/ = Dark's telepathic voice

:blah blah: = Lady Yuki's telepathic voice

* * *

Dark stared at the passed out boy on his bed for the whole of two seconds, and then ran to a drawer and rifled through it, searching for the smelling salts that he always kept in there. Although the purple haired boy himself didn't need them, he always had a bottle or two, just in case his mother came into the room and fainted upon seeing its untidy state (just kidding, it was one of those doodads that he had in his drawers). Grabbing a bottle, Dark hastily made his way back to the bed, smelling salts in his hand. Uncorking the tiny flask, Dark waved it under the unconscious Daisuke's nose, hoping that they would soon take effect. They did-with a loud yell, Daisuke shot up, clutching his nose and crashing into Dark's head. 

"AUGH!" Daisuke yelled in disgust as his body registered an extremely strong (and pungent) scent enter his sensitive nose. Then of course, his head collided with Dark's, sending a fresh wave of pain through his head. "Gah...what..." The redhead spluttered, attempting to get his bearings. Why was he on a bed? And what had that disgusting smell been? And...what on earth was that purple thing next to him?

Dark grunted as he landed on the floor, knocked off balance by Daisuke's abrupt return to life. "Ow..." groaned Dark as he clutched his abused nose. Daisuke looked down at the floor, trying to identify the purple thing sticking up and he realized that it was actually Dark's hair. The rest of the lord was on the floor in an undignified heap, and the sight was so comical that Daisuke couldn't help but laugh out loud. Dark, on the other hand, was still rubbing his nose and reminding himself never to use that particular smelling salt on anyone ever again, when he heard laughter from somewhere above him. Looking upwards for the source, Dark realized that Daisuke was looking at him-and laughing. Hard. The boy was laughing so hard that he was clutching his sides and almost to the point of rolling around on the bed. For the first time since he had entered this castle that was seemingly devoid of anything other than grey, Dark saw something that put colour back into it-Daisuke's laughter. The redhead always had a happy aura around him, but whenever he laughed the aura just seemed to pulse and grow stronger, lighting up the air around him. The comedy of the situation then fully struck the purple haired teen, making him join in Daisuke's laughter.

Daisuke laughed, his guard completely down for the moment. Suddenly, his ears registered another voice joining in his merriment and the ruby-eyed boy was made acutely aware of his surroundings. "D-D-Dark-sama?" stammered Daisuke, horrified to no end. _Oh crap, now I've really done it. I'm in Lord Dark's _bed, _and I must have bashed into him when I got that smell! _After years of Lord Krad's 'training', Daisuke's first instinct was to run. To his horror, his legs did not want to obey, and Daisuke sat paralysed on the bed, his eyes wide with fear. Dark stared bewildered up at the redhead above him. One moment, the boy had been laughing, and suddenly the happy expression on his face had disappeared and the boy looked ready to bolt. Slowly, as not to startle the boy in front of him away, Dark carefully got up and dusted himself off. Then he approached the boy carefully, treating him as though he were a deer that might bolt any second (which, of course, he was in a way). Daisuke stared at Dark with eyes as large as saucer plates-why wasn't he being hit, or cursed at?

Dark cursed inwardly as he remembered that Lord Krad regularly beat Daisuke up for minor offences that would have only garnered a frown back home. Carefully, Dark stretched out a hand and gently touched Daisuke's head, stroking the soft hair like he would a cat. To his utter amazement, the red-eyed boy melted into a puddle of goo just like that.

As soon as he felt the purple haired lord touch his hair, Daisuke could not help but shut his eyes in fear that he would get a blow on the head. Unexpectedly, the hand began stroking him, and Daisuke was taken back to when he had been around five or so, and his mother had still been alive.

_-Flashback-_

_Lady Niwa laughed and held out her arms as a young Daisuke ran towards her, holding a ball. The little boy tossed it towards her and she caught it, the smile on her face still there. The child then cannoeds into his mother, the two of them went flying and they landed on the grass, still laughing. Lady Niwa slowly began to stroke her son's hair, her fingers deftly unraveling the knots..._

_-End Flashback-_

Dark's expression softened slightly as he continued to gently run his fingers through Daisuke's hair, enjoying the pleased look on the other teen's face. A knock on the door, however, spoiled the rare moment. Even as Dark slowly removed his hand from Daisuke's hair, the door swung open to reveal a furious Lord Krad and a horrified Lady Yuki.

"Dark!" roared Krad, his huge frame filling the tiny doorway. "Someone told me they saw you hugging that no-good redheaded kitchen boy this afternoon!" Then his ice-blue eyes caught sight of the petrified 'no-good kitchen boy' sitting on Dark's bed, with the young lord standing next to him. "Daisuke!" hissed Krad furiously, "What are you doing here?"

Daisuke didn't say anything-his mind had gone completely blank from fear and shock. Dark, on the other hand, held no qualms about screaming and Lord Krad. Sure, the man was his host, but that didn't give him any right to come barging into the room just like that! "What are _you_ doing, _Lord _Krad?" Dark asked, making the title sound like a swear word instead of an honorific. "I told Daisuke to come up here to help me tidy up."

_Great excuse, really great excuse, _sneered Evil Dark. _Why don't you just tell him that you were messing around with his little servant boy? _

=I was not!=

_Oh sure, then what you call that kiss? And I'm sure people sit on your bed when they're cleaning up! _

Dark broke off his inner conversation and looked at the situation. Daisuke was sitting on the bed. The bed sheets were rumpled. =Oh...wait a minute, Daisuke's wearing his clothes! So they _can't _accuse me of doing...that.= Dark, happy with this rational explanation, set about trying to pull himself out of the hole that he had dug for himself.

Lady Yuki stared in horror as Lord Krad banged Dark's door with his fist and smashed it open. The man was so violent! Just because he had used his magic to spy on her son...why, the nerve of that man! How dare he! Although Lady Yuki rarely got angry, this was one of those rare times. She had often told Krad that he was not allowed to spy on Dark or her with his magic, but apparently this had not stopped him. Lady Yuki didn't like Krad very much in the first place, but since it would have been rude to decline his invitation, she _had _to go. Conspiracy buffs would have enjoyed the gossip that would have come up if she hadn't gone, but that was just another reason to do so.

_-Flashback- _

_Lady Yuki sat in her room, catching up on some sewing. She occasionally looked out the window to rest her eyes, and to look at the beautiful scenery. Even in the nighttime darkness, the hills and the sky looked so peaceful. If only Dark could be like that too...perhaps Daisuke could help him? Her son was certainly happier whenever the redhead appeared. Lady Yuki's thoughts were interrupted by Krad storming into the room. "Your son is playing with my kitchen boy!" _

_-End Flashback- _

Before Krad could reach the bed where Dark stood, Lady Yuki ran in front of him, cutting the taller man off. "Lord Krad," Lady Yuki said as coldly as her name suggested, "You leave my son and Daisuke alone. I'll deal with them."

Krad snarled. He didn't want any interruptions. Besides, Daisuke was technically his relative, and therefore Lady Yuki had no say whatsoever in whatever happened to the boy. "Shut up, Yuki. This is my castle, remember. _I _get to decide what happens to whom."

That did it. Lady Yuki officially lost her temper-and the sight wasn't pretty. Even though her magic was a lot weaker than Krad's, her strength lay where he was weakest-political status. Although Yuki was not a scheming woman by nature, she knew that if she wanted Krad to do anything, she would have to use her influence with the Rulers. After all, she technically stood higher than Krad in rank, but whether that meant anything right now was another matter. Yuki did the only thing that she could really do in those circumstances. "Lord Krad, I am afraid that if you feel that way towards my son and me, I will have to leave as soon as possible. You can rest assured that the Rulers will hear about this."

The angry expression on Krad's face, to Yuki's growing fear, did not go away. Instead, Krad roared, "Damn you and the Rulers, you can all go to Sahiro[1] for all I care!" Lady Yuki's eyes opened wide in shock, and without another word, she left.

Dark stared at his mother's retreating back with something akin to disgust. She had backed down just like that-to someone of lower rank that her, no less. Just what was going on here? His mother didn't just run away like a beaten dog when she was yelled at! Then his thoughts were interrupted by his mother's voice in his mind. She was telepathically talking to him!

:Dark, do you love Daisuke?:

/What?!/

:I'm asking you if you love Daisuke Niwa, and you're willing to take him along with us!:

Dark really did turn purple at this point, and this time it definitely wasn't Risa's fault. Did he love Daisuke? Did he really feel so strongly for him? The young lord groaned at the question pounding around his head.

:Hurry up Dark, I really need to know in order to finish planning!:

/NANI?!/

Dark was shocked at his mother's calm disclosure of the information. It was almost as though she was telling him about last year's crops! Well, actually she would probably be more emotional about the crops.

:Well?: Uh-oh. His mom was getting annoyed. Looks like Lord 'I-am-so-much-better-than-you' Krad had angered her more than she let on just now. In this kind of situation, there was really only one thing to do. Grabbing Daisuke, Dark stared deep into the other teen's crimson eyes. "Daisuke...would you like to come with me?"

Daisuke frowned. "What do you mean, come with you? Where?"

Dark quickly explained to the puzzled boy on the bed and the younger boy frowned and chewed his lower lip, obviously thinking about the choice that he now had to make.

As soon as he heard Dark's words, Daisuke was shocked. _What? I barely even know this guy, and he's already asking me to go with him back to his castle? This is starting to sound more and more like those stupid romance things Risa's always talking about (and even more so now that Dark accepted her cookies... _Daisuke cut off that line of thought. What was he doing anyway, thinking about Risa like that? He had wanted to be something more than a friend to her for as long as he could remember, and suddenly a young lord came along and made her vanish right out of his mind? What was going on, anyway? Even though he really wanted to go with the only other person outside Castle Hikari who had actually been nice to him, Daisuke was still a little unsure. After all, he had never been anywhere outside the castle grounds. Also, leaving would mean never seeing Satoshi, Takeshi and the rest ever again-Estate Metane wasn't close to Castle Hikari.

Dark's heart sank as he saw the expression on Daisuke's face. Well, it's not like I really expected him to say yes, I mean I've barely known him for a day and I'm already asking him to run away with me...I mean...oh... 'Good boy' Dark blushed as he realized his thoughts.

_Yeah right, why don't you just knock him out, take him with you and /then/ convince him when you're back home?_

=Because it wouldn't be honorable, maybe?= The sarcasm was evident even in the 'normal' boy's mental voice (what else can you call it?!)

_Yeah well, kissing him without his permission isn't honorable. _

=Shut up!= In another corner of his mind, Dark registered that he seemed to be saying that a lot to his evil side, especially when he seemed to be losing the argument. Daisuke looked up at Dark, and slowly shook his head. He still didn't think that he was ready to go with someone he had just met this afternoon, even if his life would probably be better there. Besides, he had once made someone a big promise that he would keep, and keep it he would.

_-Flashback-_

_A little nine-year old Daisuke wandered around in the forest, hopelessly lost. Sure, the forest was on castle grounds but it was still big...and he had now lost sight of Satoshi! The blue-haired boy had just told him to stay put and wandered off into the trees by himself. At first, Daisuke hadn't been afraid, but then after 10 minutes or so, the boy hadn't returned and the redhead began to get scared. Suddenly, he heard some rustling from a bush behind him. The startled boy whipped around to face his blue-haired friend coming out of a bush. "Gah, Satoshi! You scared me!" The younger redhead whimpered and rushed towards his friend. "I thought...I thought you left me there..."_

_Satoshi shook his head and hugged the other boy. "Don't worry Daisuke, I won't." _

_Daisuke looked up and frowned. "Pinky swear?" The little nine-year old asked, holding out his hand. _

_Satoshi sighed. "All right. Pinky swear."_

_Daisuke beamed as he shook fingers with Satoshi and the two boys walked out of the forest together. _

_-End flashback-_

Daisuke shook his head at Dark, this time more firmly. Even though the promise had been made about 8 years ago, it still meant as much to the redhead now as it did back then. No matter what, Daisuke would stick by Satoshi (and of course, vice versa). "No, I'm...I'm sorry Lord Dark," Daisuke whispered. He hoped that Dark wouldn't take it personally.

Dark inwardly drooped in disappointment as Daisuke declined the offer. He should have known-no one in their right mind would leave with someone who they had only known for a day! Just then, his mother's voice burst into his mind, and Dark was distracted. Daisuke seized the opportunity and ran out the door, leaving Dark alone.

:Dark, are you bringing him along or not?:

:Dark?:

/...no.../

:Oh well, we leave tomorrow. I know it's a bit earlier, but I think this time we've overstayed our welcome.:

Dark nodded silently, stunned and saddened by the fact that he would probably never get to see Daisuke again. He didn't feel any guilt over the fight between his mother and Krad, because he didn't like the man anyway, and he knew that his mother bore no love for the blonde, power-hungry lord.

**In the kitchens **

Daisuke arrived back in the kitchens to find everyone already in bed. The washing up had been finished long ago, and only a few people were still actually in the kitchen. Daisuke smiled at all of them, tried to ignore the questions coming his way, and walked into his room. Naturally, Satoshi was sitting inside the room, reading as usual. When Daisuke walked in, the blue-haired boy looked up, put his book away and stared at Daisuke, obviously waiting for the younger boy to say something first. Without much further thought, Daisuke burst into tears, but somehow managed to tell Satoshi the whole story coherently. The blue-haired boy sat there, taking in all the new information, and putting the puzzle pieces into place. He knew for sure now-Daisuke was most definitely gay. And he had the hots for Dark, so to speak. He just didn't know it yet. "Daisuke," Satoshi said, his voice as calm as ever, "How do you feel about Dark?" (man, he's a caring friend).

Daisuke stopped abruptly mid-sniffle. "I..." Now that Satoshi mentioned it, how _did _he feel when it came to the purple haired teen? "I don't know," he mumbled, staring at the floor instead. Ice blue eyes softened slightly and Satoshi patted the spot on the bed next to him. Daisuke took the offer and plopped down on the bed, cradling his head. Satoshi sighed. There really was no other way around it-he would have to give Daisuke the talk about 'the birds and the bees'. Satoshi inwardly sighed and steeled himself for the longest night of his life.

Daisuke lay in bed, thinking about what Satoshi had just told him. Sure, he'd heard about men and women doing 'it' in their rooms, but he'd known exactly what 'it' was. Now, though...the redhead felt another blush coming to his cheeks. Well. Now that he really thought things through, he definitely knew how he felt about Risa-chan. Satoshi had given him a 'list' of things to think about when trying to decide whether you thought of a person as a friend or more. Risa-chan suddenly didn't seem so pretty after all. Dark seemed to be a lot prettier than her, and certainly nicer. Also, he didn't think that if he kissed Risa he would feel the same as if he kissed Dark. And certainly not the...Daisuke shook his head from side to side, trying to clear his mind of the thoughts running through his head. After an hour or so, Daisuke finally fell asleep.

**Dark's room**

Dark slowly walked around his room, packing up all his random things. He'd only been here for one day, and this was what happened. Sometimes, life really sucked. He just wished that he could see Daisuke just one more time and...well, explain everything to him. For what seemed like the hundredth time, his mother's voice popped into his head, still annoyingly chirpy even though it was only about three hours from dawn-the talk with Daisuke and the following fiasco had taken longer than anticipated. Well, at least he could sleep in the carriage when they left. Dark's eyelids continued to droop, and finally the purple haired young man gave in and flopped on his bed, only intending to sleep for ten minutes or so. Of course, this plan didn't work and Dark slept until morning's light, his dreams filled with a smiling face and crimson eyes.

**Next morning, Daisuke's room: **

"Daisuke, wake up, it's time," said Satoshi, his voice as even as ever. From his voice alone, you would never have guessed that he was the type to stammer and stutter furiously whilst giving a 'birds and the bees' type speech.

Daisuke rolled over and mumbled an incoherent complaint into his pillow, clutching the soft straw stuffed bag. Of course, this was nothing new to Satoshi, who had been waking his friend up for years. Rolling his eyes with amusement, Satoshi walked over to the small basin that Daisuke used for washing up. Filling it with cold water from the jug next to it, the blue haired boy then crept over to the bed and prepared to splash the water all over the redhead. To his astonishment though...

"GOTCHA!" Daisuke yelled triumphantly, grabbing the basin without splashing any water on the bed or himself. "SATOSHI, I KNEW IT!" The blue-haired boy could only manage one word of his explanation before he was forced to dodge the cold water originally intended for Daisuke (who was now grinning widely). Deciding that Daisuke was now well and truly awake, Satoshi made a hasty exit, leaving the redhead to wash up.

**Dark's room:**

Dark snoozed on the bed, still dressed in his feastday finery on account of having had no time to change. Lady Yuki, being a cheerful morning person, swept into the room, her traveling skirts rustling lightly as they brushed the floor. Gliding over to her son, the short, fair-haired woman gently shook her son awake, handed him a comb and told him to change.

Dark yawned and stared at the comb in his hand, still not quite awake. His brain took a while to process what to do and as he ran the comb through his messy bangs, the lord took the opportunity to plot out when he could see Daisuke, apologise and hopefully leave with a clear conscience. Admittedly, the kitchen boy was on his mind a lot more than was considered healthy, but that was just something he would have to deal with later. Right now, he wanted to talk to Daisuke. Alone.

**In the kitchens: **

Lord Krad swept into the kitchens, his icy blue eyes sweeping over the servants working busily. He made sure that everyone was doing their job, and then his eyes shot over to one particular pair, a blue-haired boy and a spiky haired redhead. Of course, Krad was only interested in the redhead at the moment. After all, he had single handedly ruined all of the blonde lord's plans to become great. Such an offense could not, would not, go without punishment. "Daisuke," Krad said, his voice as cool and emotionless as ever. However, his eyes promised hell for the involved boy.

Daisuke swallowed hard as he felt Lord Krad's presence enter the kitchen. _He's probably going to beat me up in the courtyard in front of all the servants or something. _Even worse scenarios ran through his head and without warning, he dropped his stack of baskets, causing all the corn bread in them to go rolling onto the floor. He and Satoshi hastily got on all fours and began scrambling around, trying to clean up the mess of bread rolls. Unfortunately, the commotion caught Lord Krad's attention and the man turned to them, an evil smile playing on his lips. There was one thought going through Satoshi and Daisuke's minds: _Uh-oh. _

**Courtyard: **

Lady Yuki checked her horse, making sure that it was saddled properly and adjusting the reins so that both she and the horse would be comfortable. Suddenly though, a large crowd rushed past the stable, making her wonder what was going on. Next to her, Dark also looked up, his attention distracted from the black stallion that was his pride and joy. "Mom, what's going on?" Lady Yuki frowned and shook her head. Curious, mother and son walked out from the stables into the sunlight, where they were confronted with a horrible sight.

Lord Krad stood in front of the horrified crowd, looming over two kneeling figures. With a stab of horror, Dark recognized one of them as Daisuke. The other was 'creepy bastard', a. k. a Satoshi Hiwatari. The blood pounded furiously in his veins, mixing with the anger and other emotions that he felt. As he stood there in shock, his mind numbly registered Krad's last words: "...and they shall both receive a hundred strokes with the whip each."

With an almighty roar of rage that was almost simultaneous with the crowd's gasp of shock, Dark ran into the courtyard, pushing past the staff and others that he had met. Drawing his sword, the now enraged lord ran up to the front, determined to save both young men from the whip. Even though he didn't know what the offense was, he didn't care; it was probably some minor thing. As he reached the front where Krad, Daisuke and Satoshi were, Dark opened his free hand and let loose an energy ball at the tyrannical blonde, whose eyes were open in shock. Despite this, the man somehow managed to dodge the ball, grab the whip and savagely begin to beat Daisuke. Dark's heart throbbed in agony as he saw Daisuke jerk upwards in pain, his eyes wide with terror. Slashing with his sword, Dark managed to separate Krad from his whip.

* * *

[1] Sahiro: Just the Trey God of Hell kinda person. 

Oooohhh, cliffhanger again! I seriously need to be kinder to you guys...really. Anyhow, reviews are eagerly accepted, thank you for all your support. Also, I'm not really making this story historically accurate (as in the living conditions are accurate etc.), I'm just making it up based on what I know already. Anyhow, reviews please! Thanks! Oh yeah...I'm really sorry if you guys don't like Daisuke torture, I don't either, it's just for plot purposes! I'm sorry about that, really.

Baka4life90


	5. Confusion and terror

**Chapter 5: Confusion**

Disclaimer: I don't own D. N. Angel, I never have, I never will.

A/N: Uh...nothing to say. I'm sorry for the lack of romance scenes all throughout, I'll get to them in my own time. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and all the support and stuff...yeah. Enjoy!

* * *

Dark fell to the ground along with Krad, although the younger man still had his sword. Krad, on the other hand, was not in a good position. The whip had flown out of his hand and now lay on the floor out of Krad's reach. Dark could not care less-with his free hand, he pummeled Krad as hard as he could, trying to stab the older man with his sword. However, Krad was too cunning for the teenager. He noticed that the purple haired boy was currently concentrating on beating him up, so he formed an energy ball and shoved it right into Dark's chest. The teen gasped in pain and flew backwards, only to crash into the crowd. 

Daisuke winced as he looked up at what was happening. One moment, Krad had been poised above him, ready to deal some serious damage with the whip and in the next, Dark had seemed to appear out of nowhere. Satoshi, on the other hand, held no such thoughts. His whole mind was focused on one thing: Survival-again, a byproduct of living on the streets. Without thinking, the blue-haired boy grabbed Daisuke by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out of harm's way. Daisuke was still dazed, and could only hang limp as Satoshi dragged him along. When the two teens were safely away from the fight that was now taking place, they hid among the crowd (who, I may add, were more than happy to help).

Wheezing hard, Dark lay in the midst of the crowd, still clutching his sword. The purple haired lord was helped up by the people around him. Lady Yuki then rushed in on the scene (wow late isn't she) with the energy ball in hand. "STOP!" cried Lady Yuki, trying to stop the fight. "KRAD, DARK, STOP IT THIS INSTANT!" At the sound of her voice, Dark immediately stopped trying to charge back into battle. Krad, however, didn't care and threw another energy ball at Lady Yuki instead. It missed her, but hit another stable boy as he ran out of the barn. The boy, being weaker than Dark in terms of physical strength, did not fare so well and went flying backwards into a wall. The stable hand crashed into the solid wood with a loud crack, slid onto the ground and lay there completely still. At this callous and coldhearted action, something inside Lady Yuki awoke. She normally didn't get angry, but the wanton waste of life just now was enough to make her scream. Krad was arrogant, stuck-up and he certainly didn't care about the peasants under his rule-or anyone else, for that matter. The man just wanted power, but the fair-haired woman could tell that giving power to this man would be like giving a sword to an assassin. Raising her hand to throw the energy ball, the normally gentle woman hurled it at Krad with all her strength. The man didn't expect any attack from this person and so he was hit. Although he just staggered a bit, it was enough for the Lady of Metane to run to the injured boy and try to heal him. Dark, on the other hand, rushed towards Krad, bent on injuring him as much as possible. Krad drew his own sword and leaped towards Dark, the pair of them meeting mid-air with a loud clash of metal on metal.

Daisuke's eyes opened wide in horror, all traces of his former dazed look now gone as he watched Dark battle Krad. The crowd also stood stock still, no one daring to move. Their eyes were riveted on the two men now slashing at each other with their swords, eyes flashing with fury.

Dark gritted his teeth as Krad's sliced at him again, barely managing to block. The heavier sword slammed down on his blade mercilessly, as though its wielder intended to use it like a mace. The sword suddenly shimmered, and it turned into a heavy war-axe. /Oh no,: thought Dark to himself, :How did he do that?!/ Indeed, he now had to dodge every blow, in order to make sure that his sword did not break under the full force of the axe. Krad smiled evilly as he closed in on Dark, continuing to whirl his axe. The blond lord saw the look of fear in Dark's eyes and closed in for the kill, confident with the knowledge that he would win for sure. Hm...killing the heir to Metane wasn't such a bad idea. He could easily frame Yuki for treason once this was over, she would go to jail, and he might get her lands as a reward from the Lords. Of course, he could also assassinate her-it would stop her tongue faster than the framing plot. On the other hand, everyone would know who had planned the assassination...so...oh well. He would deal with this boy first and then he could think about the future. "Dark," purred Krad, "Just give up. There's no way you'll be able to beat me in combat."

Dark's blood boiled at the arrogant lord's voice telling him to do such a thing. _How dare he, _raged Evil Dark's voice. For once, Dark could not agree more. The purple haired lord increased the speed and power of his strokes, now completely focused on ending the blond man's life once and for all. Unfortunately, the tyrannical lord was more experienced in this form of combat and Dark found himself doing all he could just to defend himself.

Lady Yuki stared in horror as she watched her son being mercilessly driven back into a wall. Standing up, she left the stable boy to the care of the castle medic, who had now arrived on the scene. Instead, the Lady ran towards the battling pair, ready to knock out either of them if only to stop the fight from escalating. She somehow managed to summon up another energy ball and hurled it at the battling pair, hoping that it would hit Krad (although she would have to settle for her own son). To her relief, the ball hit the blond man and he soon was knocked unconscious. Lady Yuki calmly looked at Dark, the crowd and finally at Krad's prone form, now lying on the ground. Calmly, she issued orders for Krad to be put into his room, the injured stable boy to be taken to a cool room where he would not be disturbed, and for the crowd to disperse. Amazingly, there was no shortage of help-none of the inhabitants of Castle Hikari had liked their lord very much, once they discovered the demonic nature that lay under the angel's face.

Dark, however, refused all his mother's efforts to help/heal him, and instead he staggered towards Daisuke, who wrenched himself free of Satoshi's grasp and ran towards the older teen. The two met in the middle and Dark collapsed into Daisuke's arms, sending the pair of them sprawling on the ground. Lady Yuki and Satoshi watched in amusement and smiled, happy for their charges.

Dark stroked Daisuke's hair as he hugged the red-haired boy back. Daisuke, on the other hand, could not help but gently sniffle into Dark's shoulder as he realised that the lord was going to be all right. _Hee hee hee, doesn't he feel nice and warm in your arms? _Chuckled Evil Dark as Dark himself savoured the warmth of having Daisuke in his arms. /Shut up, / protested the 'normal' Dark. He closed his eyes slowly, just letting himself enjoy the moment. The two were broken out of their own little bubble when Satoshi cleared his throat quietly. "Excuse me, Lord Dark, Daisuke," he said, his voice ever bland. "I think that perhaps we should all go inside?" This seemed to bring Dark back to his senses, and the young purple haired lord quickly grasped Daisuke and pushed him away, only to grab him and pull him closer. Daisuke felt a stab of pain each time Dark touched the wounds on his back, but it was quickly pushed away as the lord hugged him. Daisuke felt comfortable in Dark's arms; he never wanted to leave. He felt someone tugging his shoulder, and looked up to see Dark's face smiling down at him. Daisuke smiled back and Dark was once again struck by the beauty of the gorgeous redhead he was currently holding. Satoshi, meanwhile, was getting a little irritated as well as worried for his best friend. It was all very well if Daisuke had finally found out his feelings for the purple haired boy, but if he bled to death he wouldn't have much time to enjoy a happy life with him! There really was only one thing to do in this kind of situation...

Daisuke snuggled deeper into Dark's arms, smiling blissfully. The purple haired lord was also in Cloud 9. Dark gently tilted Daisuke's face upwards and kissed those soft lips. Daisuke was at first stunned, but he found that he liked this rather gentle kiss and began to reciprocate the favour. Both boys were just starting to get into it when they were rudely startled out of their happiness by a pair of hands roughly Daisuke loose and half dragging, half carrying him back up to the castle. For one horrible moment, the redhead thought that Krad was carrying him off to the dungeons or torture chambers or something. These fearful thoughts were soon cut off by a glimpse of Satoshi's sky blue hair. Sighing inwardly, Daisuke let his best friend carry him back up to the castle.

Lady Yuki looked amusedly at her son, the expression on his face worth more than the most precious jewels in the world. She giggled to herself, ignoring the strange looks that her only child gave her. Her mind was already formulating a plan that was sure to get Dark and Daisuke together. Hey, a single Lady had to have her fun right?

Dark gulped as he felt cold sweat starting to form. He was scared; he hadn't seen his mother giggle except for that time she placed a giant sponge on the top of his bedroom door when he was five. He'd walked into the room and by the time he'd realized that something was wrong, his hair, clothes and everything about him was completely soaked, including the book that he had been reading at the time. Even his 'evil' half was scared of a giggling Lady Yuki. Dark hastily made his escape whilst his mother was still preoccupied with whatever she was planning.

**In the kitchens: **

Satoshi chastised Daisuke to no end as he bandaged the whip marks on the other boy's back. "...and don't you think that you should try and stay alive if you want to be with Dark a little longer?" Satoshi asked as he ripped off another length of bandage. Daisuke (who hadn't really been listening to Satoshi for the last fifteen minutes) immediately jerked up at these words, his face flushing a nice crimson colour. Satoshi's face immediately broke into a broad grin, just as Takeshi ran in to check on his friend. The stable boy caught sight of the look on Satoshi's face and his own tanned one turned slightly pale. It wasn't every day you caught the Head of the Kitchens smiling, after all. Especially when the aforementioned Head was a normally icy boy who acted like he needed a good lay, to put it bluntly. Takeshi hastily made his exit, sensing that Daisuke might not appreciate him listening on this conversation. An evil grin then spread over the brunette's face as he closed the door carefully and then pressed his ear to the keyhole. Hey, he needed to pay Daisuke back for the time he'd walked in on Akarrin and him, right?

"Satoshi!" Daisuke pouted as he looked at his friend. "I don't like Dark that way! You know I don't! I like Risa, you know that!" The blue haired boy just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Dai. I think I know better the way you were behaving in the courtyard."

"GAH! You were _watching_?!" Daisuke spluttered and choked in indignation, whip injuries now completely forgotten as he pouted at Satoshi.

"Well, I could hardly fail not to watch, especially when you were bleeding down your back. Lady Yuki was watching too, in case you didn't notice. I don't think you did; not with the way you were wrapped up in your little moment with Dark," Satoshi replied, the grin on his face now gone (although the amusement still danced in his eyes). He was now starting to enjoy himself thoroughly.

"Why do you have to torture me so?" moaned Daisuke, embarrassed to no end. Outside, Takeshi's eyes widened in amazement. So, Daisuke was into boys? Well, hopefully he didn't have a thing for Takeshi, or else he would find himself without a certain part of his anatomy-his head (hey, get your minds out of the gutter!). At that point, the mischievous boy's foot gently knocked against the wooden door, making a 'thump' loud enough for the people inside to hear the noise. Takeshi froze with only two words in his mind. _Oh...crap. _

Satoshi and Daisuke looked up, startled by the noise at the door. The blue haired boy glared hard at it-he never liked eavesdroppers. He silently walked over to the door and opened it, and Takeshi fell in. Both Daisuke and Satoshi looked down at the sheepish brunette on the floor. There really was only one thing to do, Satoshi thought as he eyed the boy on the floor. "Saehara, I suggest that you don't tell anyone about whatever you heard, and get out of here, _now_, before I decide that you aren't fit to live after all," Satoshi placed extra emphasis on 'now', just to make sure that the boy would go away and not hang around. Takeshi could only scramble to his feet and run away. Of course, he couldn't resist the parting shot. "Hey Daisuke, you have the hots for Dark?" This was met with another crimson blush from Daisuke and a growl from Satoshi. Takeshi made his escape quickly, slamming the door behind him.

Daisuke groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Satoshi, you do realize that Takeshi will spread the rumour around regardless of your warning, right?"

Satoshi shrugged. "They would have to find out some time. Better late than never, right?"

"This is _my _reputation here! I actually care about what people think about me, especially when it comes to—"Daisuke was cut off by Satoshi.

"Oh yeah, sure you care about Risa. Admit it, Daisuke. Even _I _can see that you like Dark more than a friend and I really couldn't care less, so long as you're happy. I think Dark feels the same way towards you too, in case you're wondering," Satoshi took a deep breath as he recovered from his long 'speech'. He hadn't talked this much for ages, and especially not to someone who he felt a close bond with. These things were just explained silently between them-almost like telepathy, except they both communicated on a higher plane. Satoshi sighed and shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. They were for dreamers and romantics. Logical and worldly people couldn't afford to think like that.

Daisuke seemed to understand Satoshi's feelings and fell silent, although the smile was still on his face. Satoshi finished bandaging up the rest of Daisuke's wounds and the two of them walked out, leaning on each other. Daisuke laughed as he imagined what they looked like to the rest of the kitchen-probably two young soldiers just back from the wars. The first person to speak to him was Risa, her eyes filled with hope. "Daisuke, are you all right?" The over-emotional girl grabbed both boys and pulled them into a tight hug, then backed away, threw her apron over her face and immediately began bawling. Riku (ever present and ready to take care of Risa), calmly led her sobbing sister away and tried to comfort her as they went. Both the blue-haired boy and the redhead just rolled their eyes and continued on their way to their respective posts.

**Dark's rooms: **

Dark groaned and buried his hands in his face for the hundredth time as he wrestled with the question that his mother had asked him earlier. His torturer, also known as his mother, sat across from him in the armchair holding her cup of tea and wearing an amused smile. Dark really hated it when she pushed him like this-feelings couldn't be rushed! She should know that better than most, after all. Lady Yuki, on the other hand, knew what Dark felt for Daisuke. He'd felt it all along; he just needed to admit it to himself. Once that barrier was broken, he and Daisuke would naturally gravitate together. She was just speeding things up by forcing Dark to admit that he felt something more than friendship for Daisuke. The redhead was a good choice; he was kind, caring and sincere, which would help to smooth over Dark's more sardonic style.

Dark finally came out of his self-imposed agony and faced his mother, trying not to wince as he mentally went over what he would tell her. "Well Dark, are you going to say anything?" Lady Yuki asked (the amusement evident in her voice.) This isn't fair! Dark thought. She's enjoying this way too much. Finally, the purple haired lord managed to stammer out a few words.

"I...I...I think I like him. A lot." Lady Yuki sighed in disappointment. :He's still in denial, hm? Such a pity; it would have saved a lot of trouble if he had just admitted it. Of course, it's hard for any man to admit that he likes others of the same gender, even if most don't care about which way you lean: 1. Dark glared at his mother. "Now will you leave me alone?"

"Of course," Lady Yuki stood up and glided towards the door. "Remember, Dark," she added as she placed her hand on the door handle, "no one will hate you if you admit that you love Daisuke," and before Dark could protest, she disappeared in a soft puff of blue smoke. The lord just groaned again and collapsed into the soft armchair. He then decided to go and talk a little to Daisuke. He had a feeling that the talk they were going to have was way overdue. Pushing himself up, Dark made his way down the corridors.

**Krad's Room: **

Krad opened his ice blue eyes groggily to se a servant in the room, cleaning up. Frowning slightly, he tried to remember what had happened earlier. He'd been hit by something ice-cold and white-hot at the same time. Then his memory came flooding back and a powerful surge of rage went through the lord as his mind re-played the events leading up to this. He'd been hit by a mere woman. What rankled even more was that the..._woman's _power level could not match his, and yet she had managed to put him out of action. Shooting up in the bed, he glared at the startled servant. Gathering his energy in the palm of his hand, Krad hurled it with all of his might at the servant, who (unable to resist the force) died in an instant. Krad slowly rose from the bed and walked out into the corridors of his castle. His eyes were filled with red and his mind was only on three people: Daisuke, Dark and Yuki.

**Lady Yuki's Room: **

Lady Yuki stared seemingly into nothingness, but she was actually thinking of ways to get Dark and Daisuke together. She turned over various ideas in her mind and analysed each one, totting up the advantages and disadvantages. Finally, she found a plan to her liking. She sensed a dark presence outside her door, and whirling around, she faced it, ready to shout a spell word when a giant splinter of ice smashed through the wood. Lady Yuki paled. _It can't be...Krad's already awake?! _The last thing she was another dagger made of ice, hurtling straight at her. Then...nothingness. Above her still form, Krad laughed. _Foolish woman...thinking you could restrain me. _The ice lord then turned on his heel and disappeared.

**The kitchens: **

Dark strode in through the doors, eyes scanning the whole room for a certain redhead. He found the object of his desires in a corner with Satoshi, both of them working talking. Just as he was about to go over, though, Risa jumped up in front of him. Dark could not suppress a small groan that escaped his lips.

Risa swallowed hard as she heard the small groan from Dark. Surely he wasn't groaning at the sight of her? The girl's lower lip trembled and her eyes filled up with tears. Dark could not help but smirk at her-hey, he needed to keep people happy, even if he didn't know them very well! Risa immediately perked up and latched onto the lord's arm, chattering away happily. After around five minutes of torture, Dark gave up. Raising his free arm, he yelled, "Hey Daisuke!" The whole kitchen fell silent and whispers were the only thing that filled the air as everyone stared at the redhead.

Daisuke felt his cheeks heating up as heads turned his way. _Why does Dark have to do this all the time? Does he like the attention or something?! _Daisuke looked up as he noticed Dark in front of him now. And...was that Risa hanging off his arm? Well, it wasn't like he expected Dark to love him for real...right? For some reason, Daisuke felt a little stab in his chest as he watched Dark and Risa snuggling together.

Dark swallowed as he saw the murderous look Satoshi sent him. Crap, I should have gotten Risa off me first! Creepy bastard looks like he's gonna pop a vein any minute now...and it doesn't take a genius to guess why. Dark quickly shook a pouting Risa off him and faced the blue-haired Ice Prince first. "Satoshi," Dark took a deep breath, "This is isn't what it looks like, it's just that Risa latched onto my arm and she wouldn't let go and please tell Daisuke that—"he was cut off by Satoshi's hand.

"Lord Dark," Satoshi began calmly, "I think you had better tell Daisuke that yourself. He's right here, as you can see."

Dark turned to face Daisuke. "Daisuke, do you want—"Again, the purple haired teen was cut off, although this time by Daisuke. The redhead swallowed hard, trying to subdue his raging feelings.

"Dark...can we talk about this somewhere private?" Dark was just about to suggest the same thing, and he nodded vigorously.

"One condition though," he said, a smirk playing around his lips again.

"What?"

"Creepy bastard doesn't come with us."

"Creepy...? Who's that?" Daisuke asked, blushing furiously at Dark's language.

Dark snickered and pointed at Satoshi, who was now positively fuming. "Him!"

Daisuke sighed and shook his head. He walked past Dark and headed for the door, not bothering to say anything. If Dark was as smart as he was supposed to be, he would catch the hint. Satoshi pushed Dark roughly in the direction of the door. "Hurry up baka2, you don't want Daisuke to think you dumped him, do you?" Dark's eyes widened in mock horror and he dashed out the door, flailing his cloak behind him. Satoshi sighed, smiled to himself and shook his head. Those two were a match made in-oh never mind. A soft groan sounded from somewhere around his ankles and the blue-haired boy looked down to see a very annoyed Risa on the ground. Looking up, the Head of the Kitchens yelled as loudly as he could for Riku to take her twin away.

**In the garden: **

Daisuke stared at the water fountain, his mind filled with memories. When he'd been little, he'd always gone to this spot whenever he felt sad. He hadn't come here for a long time. A small rock clicked as it hit the hard stone ground, and Daisuke turned around. Dark stood there in front of him, looking slightly sheepish. "Hey," Daisuke said, before looking downwards and contemplating his shirt with interest. Dark looked at Daisuke, puzzlement written all over his features.

Daisuke fiddled with his shirt, trying to think of something interesting to say. "Um...Lord Dark?"

Dark waved his hand, grateful for what Daisuke just said. "Don't call me Lord; it makes me feel old."

Daisuke frowned, but tried anyway. "So...Dark, what were you looking for me for?"

Dark frowned. "I...I just wanted to talk to you, I guess. Daisuke...how are your wounds?"

Daisuke shrugged. "They're okay. Satoshi put some ointment on them, and they're slightly better now."

Dark couldn't stand it anymore. In two strides, he had covered the distance between him and Daisuke. The taller teen swept the redhead into his arms and buried his head in the unruly mop of flame. "You have no idea how much..." Dark whispered, and then trailed off. He leaned back slightly and then kissed Daisuke on the mouth.

Daisuke blinked as Dark hugged him and he could only stand in shock as soft lips met his for the second time that day. He stood there like a statue for a few seconds, and then responded eagerly. Some little part of his mind whispered Risa's name, but it was soon silenced.

Dark ran his tongue over Daisuke's mouth, asking for entrance. The shorter teen eagerly complied, and just as they were getting into the kiss, an icy blast of wind rushed through the garden. The two boys stopped and shivered hard. A large icicle then appeared, and Krad stepped out of it, smiling evilly. "What a touching scene," he murmured. "Too bad it won't last," he added as he shot an icy dagger at Daisuke. Dark watched in horror as the dagger hit Daisuke full in the chest. The body flew through the air in a graceful arc and landed with a loud thump onto the stone ground ten feet away.

* * *

1 : Trey doesn't have any prejudices against sexual orientation. 

2 : Satoshi can call Dark 'baka' and not worry about repercussions, because...well, he treats everyone more or less the same unless it's Daisuke or Krad.

Another cliffhanger! Wheee!! Sorry, it's getting late now and I really wanted to wrap up this chapter before bedtime...so yeah. I don't know what happened; I guess I was in a sappy mood when I wrote this chapter. I'm so sorry; I don't know why I keep torturing Daisuke! Not to mention Lady Yuki...I'm also sorry about the numbers. They were supposed to be in brackets, but wouldn't take the symbols...so yeah. Please read and review!


	6. Relief

**Chapter 6: Relief**

Disclaimer: For the sixth time, DN Angel does not belong to me (why anyone would think so is beyond my comprehension).

A/N: Wow, 6th chapter already! I'll try and make this one nice and sappy, with a touch of fluff and of course, a little angst (got to keep that element to the end yeah?). Thank you for all the support you guys have given me so far, I really appreciate it! big smile Please keep those reviews coming in!

blah blah : Dark's thoughts

/blah blah/ Dark's telepathic voice

:blah blah: Lady Yuki's telepathic voice

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Dark watched in horror as Daisuke's body lay completely still on the cold ground. Already he could see blood starting to stain the giant ice dagger red and slowly red hot fury worked its way through his senses. That son of a b----, thought Dark as he drew his sword, the metal hissing softly as it rubbed against the rough scabbard. Krad turned around at the noise, his ice blue eyes now fixed on Dark. "Well Dark, it seems that we meet again," Krad said, his voice soft but menacing. When Dark didn't reply, the sadistic blonde continued. "What's the matter?" he asked, his voice mocking. "Are you afraid? Of course," he added, not waiting for an answer, "you would be. After all, your mother isn't here to back you up now, is she?" Dark's eyes widened; had this arrogant...creature done something to his mother? /Mother?/ he called telepathically. There was silence. Krad threw back his head and laughed. "Your mother won't come," he repeated. "She won't be coming. Ever." 

At those words, Dark seemed to come back to life. He had been standing there with his sword in hand, completely paralysed as though he were in a trance. Now though, Dark snarled in anger and went for the blond ice lord. "You'll pay for that," he hissed. "I'll make you pay one thousand fold for what you did!" Krad smirked and disappeared, only to appear again behind the purple haired teen, next to Daisuke's body. Dark whirled and almost screamed at the sight that met his eyes. Krad was slowly pulling out the giant piece of ice that had buried itself inside Daisuke's body, ignoring the soft whimpers that came from the redhead. As the point left the younger boy's body, Krad placed his hand on Daisuke's chest. The spiky haired boy suddenly shot up, his crimson eyes opened wide. His chest still oozed blood, but he was alive. Dark narrowed his eyes, trying to fathom Krad's purpose for 'resurrecting' Daisuke. He soon received an answer as Krad plunged the icicle back into the poor boy's chest, causing him to scream out loud. Dark wasn't sure of what happened at that point; a purple halo of magic surrounded him and Krad, and suddenly the ice lord was thrown backwards into the stone fountain that Daisuke had stood at only moments before. Dark advanced slowly towards the Hikari lord, whispering a binding spell to keep the man in place.

Krad stared haughtily at the purple haired lord. _Such an idiot, _he thought, _playing at being all noble and kind. _"If only your little Dai-chan," a sneer played over his lips at the pet name, "could see you now. Can you imagine the look on his face when he finds out that you're so merciless?" Dark stopped, his grip on the sword beginning to falter. Indeed, what _would _Daisuke think of him if he killed Krad in cold blood? Sure, the man was a sadistic person, and he'd abused Daisuke physically and mentally ever since his parents had died, but that didn't mean that the redhead would just let it go. Family was family, no matter what. Suddenly, Dark felt like a monster. _Careful, _warned Evil Dark, _Krad's probably toying with your mind. He _wants _you to think that way. I don't think Daisuke will feel any harsher towards you than he does right now. _A soft choking noise caught the battling lords' attention.

Daisuke winced, trying to move a little, but the pain in his chest was just too great to ignore. The bitter, familiar taste of blood filled his mouth and the world around him was blurry. He could feel white-hot pain in his body, but also a cold feeling like a giant shard of ice was stuck in his body (which of course, it was). Shifting a little, blood flooded his mouth and he choked on it weakly.

Dark's head turned towards his redheaded...love? Crush? What...? No time to worry about that now though. The purple haired lord's eyes narrowed again and he turned to face Krad, his expression now unreadable. Whispering another spell under his breath, Dark effectively knocked Krad out. The blonde lord struggled against the magic enveloping in, but he could not resist for more than a few minutes. He soon stopped kicking and Dark nodded in satisfaction before running to Daisuke's body. He knelt down on the blood stained floor and carefully picked Daisuke up. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he ran to the Healers' Bay. Hold on Daisuke, just hold on.

**In the kitchens: **

Satoshi jerked his head up as a loud crash resounded through the kitchen. _Oh no, Risa must have dropped another bunch of dishes again, _he thought with dismay. _Any more and I'll have to go buy new ones! _He rubbed his temples, feeling a killer headache coming on. Fifteen minutes later, Dark and Daisuke hadn't come back in. At first, it hadn't bothered the blue-haired boy much; he knew that they had a lot to catch up on, sort out and so forth. Of course, they could have also gotten into a little...session. Well, so long as Dark didn't try to have a roll in the hay with Daisuke any time soon, it was all right. However, Satoshi soon began to get worried. It was almost dark, and his best friend and the visiting lord still hadn't returned from the gardens. He gave Risa a glare and a sharp warning, and then walked out of the steamy kitchen and into the gardens. The sight that met his eyes shocked and horrified him, as well as pulling him back into unwanted memories.

_-Flashback-_

_The young blue-haired boy smiled happily as he walked home through the forest, pail of water in his hand. His thoughts turned to his parents, and whether his dad would be home soon, or if he was already home. Sure, they were a woodcutter's family and they didn't have very much money, but it was a nice life all the same. Kita and Mander, the twins, would probably be playing around the back in the garden, and he couldn't wait to get back home. His stomach growled slightly, and Satoshi hurried onwards. A bright blaze came from in front of him, and the little boy frowned. The only house around was his; how come it was so bright? As he came to the top of the last hill, he dropped his water in horror. _

_The whole house lay in ruins, fire searing through everything. The little shack that his father had built for all the tools was completely gone, its ashes scattered to the wind. Worst of all, though, were the bodies. The twins lay on the ground, their eyes wide and faces painted with horror and shock. A bunch of richly dressed people stood a little way off in a circle, surrounding someone. One of the men suddenly crouched down and a woman's scream echoed through the empty forest. Satoshi gasped in horror-it was his mother's voice. "No-please-stop!" Too scared to think any further, Satoshi ran away, the shrieks echoing in his ears. _

_-End Flashback- _

Satoshi stared silently for a moment at the blood all over the ground and the giant ice shards on the ground. The blue-eyed boy gulped; the whole scene looked like Lord Krad had just gone into bloodlust. _Where are they, _Satoshi asked himself, panic starting to set in. _They must have been caught in Krad's fury, or else there wouldn't be any blood here...I hope he didn't kill them or something of the sort. _Without further thought, Satoshi ran up to the castle and headed straight for Lady Yuki's room.

**Healers' Bay: **

Dark rushed in, amethyst eyes filled with shock and horror, still carrying Daisuke. He rushed to the nearest healer he could find; Maya. She looked at him and smiled in greeting before her gaze fell on Daisuke. "Oh my..! What happened?!" Maya looked genuinely freaked out, and Dark didn't blame her one bit.

"He was hurt by Krad."

Maya's eyes widened in horror and sympathy; she knew how violent the lord could be on account of personal experience and from having so many servants to bandage up. "Lord Dark, give him to me now. We need to get him onto a bed, dribble a little liquid into him and then I can work on him with my power," Maya explained as she took the prone form from Dark. Daisuke shuddered as he was shifted and coughed some more. He soon stopped though, and if anything, this seemed to worry the healer more. "Ateo, Kira! Over here now! Dai's hurt!" At those words, two blue-clad women rushed over, their eyes showing worry.

"Krad again huh?" asked the woman. Dark and Maya nodded. "I see. Well," she said, looking at Daisuke's form, "it doesn't look like there's much hope. We'll do what we can. As for you, Lord Dark, are you injured?" Dark shook his head. The healer nodded. "Give Daisuke to me then. Maya, you check Lord Dark over; you know what lords are like," and with that, she took Daisuke's form from Dark and left, followed by her companion. Dark felt the fear of losing Daisuke returning, but it was soon replaced by a sense of dread as he saw Satoshi pelt into the room at full speed.

Satoshi's face was set into a worried frown as he entered the room, but it soon faded as he realised that Dark was all right. The fear then returned as he noticed that Daisuke wasn't with the young lord and that Dark was covered in blood. "Where's Daisuke?" Satoshi asked, not caring that his cold mask had slipped. Dark looked at him sadly and mouthed, 'Krad'.

The blue-haired boy felt his blood run cold as his brain registered that Krad had gotten Daisuke. "What happened...?" Dark pointed at one of the heavy wooden doors on the left, indicating where the two healers had taken Daisuke. Satoshi paled even more (if that was possible), and stared at the door in shock. Dark blinked as a healer whom he didn't know rushed up to him and placed her hand on his forehead. Dark closed his eyes, letting the cool magic rushing through him soothe the pain and fear that he'd had ever since Krad had turned up in the garden. A loud shout echoed through the otherwise quiet 'waiting room' and a servant ran in, shock written all over his features. "Lord Dark," the man gasped out, "Lady Yuki was found dead in her room!"

**In the gardens: **

Krad stirred and opened his blue eyes, smiling slightly as he flexed his fingers and found them to be all right. He shut his eyes momentarily, checking that he was all right and that brat hadn't broken anything. To his delight, he was left untouched. "Ah, Dark," whispered Krad to the air, "You're going to regret that you hurt me."

**Healers' Bay: **

Satoshi and Dark stared at the messenger in horror, their eyes wide with shock. _Great, _thought Satoshi sarcastically. _The one time Krad's actually proven to be homicidal and insane, the one person who can banish him for good is the one who gets killed. _Emyra, a short, plump but experienced healer rushed out, her bag already in hand. "Are you sure?" she barked at the servant. He saluted and nodded in the affirmative. "Let me see," she demanded, rushing out of the room and up the stairs to Lady Yuki's room. Satoshi turned to Dark and saw the purple haired lord close his eyes and fall to the ground in a faint.

Dark regained consciousness and felt the cold floor pressing against his back. Next to him crouched Satoshi, a cool cloth in his hand. Dark blinked, unable to comprehend what was going on around him. Memory soon kicked in though, and with it came grief. Mother... Dark sniffed unconsciously, and then realised that he was crying in front of another person. He angrily wiped the tears away, trying to stop them from flowing. Boys don't cry, and especially not lords! Dark slowly forced himself to stand up, ignoring Satoshi's efforts to support him. _I take it Krad's as good as dead? _Evil Dark asked casually. For once, the lord's 'alter ego' sounded deadly serious. Dark nodded mentally. /Bet everything and anything on it. Picking up his sword (which Satoshi had taken off after he noticed that it was digging into his leg rather uncomfortably), Dark headed for the door. Satoshi caught up to Dark just in time to catch the cold, detached look on the older teen's face. "Dark!" Satoshi whispered, too scared to raise his voice. "We don't know for sure if Lady Yuki's dead or not. She may just be in shock. That man does not know anything about how to tell if a person is dead or alive, and he may have just been panicking. Besides, are you going to leave Daisuke here to wake up without you? That doesn't seem like lover's behaviour."

Dark glared at Satoshi. "Krad hurt Daisuke, and that's enough for me. As for Daisuke...you're taking care of him," and Satoshi found himself pushed away, back into the Healers' Waiting Room. Before the blue-haired boy could protest, Dark was out the door. _Yuki had better be alive, _growled Satoshi to himself. _She needs to teach Dark the meaning of caution and that revenge is best served cold. _Still grumbling to himself and unaware that he sounded a little like a mother hen, the Head of the Kitchens walked to Daisuke's room and opened the door.

**Daisuke's room: **

Satoshi walked over to the little bed, mentally preparing himself for what he would see. Sure, Krad often whipped Daisuke on a daily basis, but he never used magic because then it would be too obvious to the world that Krad Hikari was a sadistic man who didn't treat his servants well. Still, no amount of preparation beforehand could actually help Satoshi cope with the state of his best friend. The blue-haired boy stifled a gasp as he took in Daisuke's condition. A gaping hole in the middle of the boy's chest was the worst of his injuries, although the head wound was pretty bad as well. Various older wounds marked the young teen's body, although none of them were serious enough to rival the head and chest injury. Satoshi was relieved to see that his 'little brother' was breathing regularly and didn't seem to be in too much pain, although he did look a little pale. _Dark had better not get himself killed, or else I'll go to Sahiro and kill him again. _Still thinking of new and innovative ways to kill Dark if he died on Daisuke now, Satoshi sat in the small chair next to the bed and gently placed his hand over Daisuke's. The blue-haired boy shut his eyes and went to sleep, unaware that a healer had entered the room. The plump, grandmotherly looking woman looked at the two and smiled slightly, glad that they had each other to rely on (not that way, as in a family way people! Eesh!)

**Castle corridor: **

Dark padded softly along the corridor where his mother's room was. He knew that Krad had been here recently; the man's power signature was all over the place. Reaching his mother's door, Dark opened it and ran to the huddled up form on the floor. A giant ice dagger, much like the one Daisuke had been hit by, was embedded firmly in her chest. Blood dripped out of the edges of the wound onto her robes and the floor. The servant that had brought the bad news stood next to her, frantically placing his hands all over her body, trying to locate something that would show whether the woman was alive or not. Growling quietly in his throat, Dark stalked over to the body and carefully placed his hand to his mother's pulse-or where it should be if she was still alive. To his immense relief, there was a faint beat. It was a very weak one, and Dark knew that his mother might not live, but he wouldn't give up without a fight. He'd already suffered the loss of one parent and even though he couldn't remember the man who had given him his powers and looks, he still missed his dad. Dark picked up Lady Yuki gently and tried to teleport to the Healers' Bay, hoping that they didn't shield the whole place with magic. To his relief, Dark was able to teleport himself into the area.

Just then, his mother stirred a little and then she went into a coughing fit. She would choke and choke, draw in a long shuddering breath and then continue. This only served to get all the healers' attention and they clustered around Dark and Lady Yuki, their eyes worried. Dark felt someone gently relieve him for his burden and as worry and fear came crashing down, the young man collapsed for the second time that day.

**Daisuke's room: **

Satoshi's head shot up and he blinked blearily, trying to get his bearings. He finally remembered that he was in Daisuke's room because said boy had been hurt by Krad. Speaking of which, he wondered what was going on outside the room. People were shouting, there was a loud crash and then a woman screamed. Satoshi quickly jumped up and ran out the door, half-expecting to see a maniacally laughing Krad wreaking havoc left and right. Of course, that wasn't the sight that met his eyes. Instead, the blue-haired boy saw his purple haired friend passed out on the floor _again_, and an unconscious Lady Yuki being carried into another room by a green-clad healer. The blue-haired boy immediately rushed over to Dark (who was being tended to by a number of the novices) and shooed them off before they lost their heads. He proceeded to send a small bolt of healing magic into the lord and this brought him back to consciousness.

Dark glared up at Satoshi for the second time and sighed. "I guess you didn't get to Krad?" was the only thing the Head of the Kitchens said as he eyed the purple haired teen thoughtfully.

"No..." Dark replied. "How's Daisuke now?"

"You want to see?"

Dark thought about it and nodded, clutching onto the hope that his love would be better and perhaps even awake now. As though reading his mind, Satoshi added, "He's not awake yet."

The two boys entered the dimly lit room and headed straight for Daisuke's bed. Before they could reach it though, the door crashed open and the two twins, Risa and Riku walked in. Risa, upon seeing Dark, squealed in delight and glomped onto him. "Oh Dark," sobbed the girl, "It's all so terrible! Daisuke's been hurt so badly, and..and...Krad's gone evil now, and...oh Dark I'm so scared!" The girl wailed on like this for a few more minutes before launching herself into Dark's arms again and turning on the waterworks. Satoshi covered his mouth to hide the smirk threatening to grow on his face and traded looks with Riku (who was shaking her head in disapproval). Dark, on the other hand, prayed fervently that someone would interrupt the moment with Risa. He didn't mind the girl much, but she tended to pop up at the most inopportune times. Everyone's attention was soon diverted though, because Daisuke coughed slightly and then shifted so that the blankets made a rustling noise. Dark blinked and (rather conveniently) forgetting that Risa was still clinging to him, he rushed over to the bed and grabbed Daisuke's hand, dumping the girl unceremoniously in the process. "He's alive!" cried the purple haired boy.

"No, I thought he was dead," Satoshi dryly retorted, his way of telling the other teen to stop making such stupid comments. A healer rushed into the room, her bag of medicinal supplies already open. She looked worried at first, but when she saw that Daisuke seemed to be all right, she relaxed slightly and then reprimanded the four for being so noisy in a wounded person's room.

"Oh, by the way Lord Dark?" the healer said.

"Yeah? And don't call me lord; it makes me seem older than I really am," Dark said.

"Your mother's condition is better now. We managed to close up the stab wound with magic, so she should be fine within a matter of weeks. She'll have to take things easy though," cautioned the woman. She turned towards the door and prepared to leave before Dark's voice stopped her from doing so.

"What about him?" Dark's hand gestured to the redhead lying on the bed. He half expected the woman to say that she didn't believe the boy able to survive for longer than half a day, what with his injuries, but to his surprise she smiled slightly.

"He'll be fine Lord Dark, he just needs the rest and some proper food."

Dark could not control the whoop of glee that escaped his throat and he jumped into the air jubilantly. Unfortunately, this caused him to crash into Satoshi and knock the blue-eyed boy over, sending them both onto the floor on top of each other. Riku raised an eyebrow and remarked casually, "If you two want to do anything together, please leave us out of it."

The two boys looked at each other in mock horror, especially Dark. "Who, me? I would never!" The amethyst-eyed boy declared dramatically, whilst his blue-eyed counterpart nodded vigorously in agreement. Laughter then rang through the little room, making it suddenly seem to be more cheerful, brighter. Meanwhile on the bed, Daisuke smiled slightly as though he too could sense and hear the happiness and relief seeping into every corner of his room.

**Hill near Castle Hikari: **

Lord Krad silently stared at the castle from within the confines of his invisibility force field. He smiled as his mind went through the plan he had concocted. Lady Yuki and her son would suffer, along with Daisuke, Satoshi and anyone else who tried to help them. Yes; by the time he was done, they would all be begging him to stop. Revenge was always best served cold, and even more so when the people involved had been needling you for years. Soon, he would be able to leave the Niwa brat behind and cast off the last remaining connection between him and Emiko Niwa (who was now dead).

* * *

Well! I was kind to you now wasn't I? I didn't even try to put a cliffy! Well, reviews please! I need them to keep writing lol. See yaz! 


	7. Risa Finds Out

**Chapter 7: Risa Finds Out**

Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel. End of story.

A/N: OK, thanks for the reviews (yes, all two of them) and keep them coming in please! KageKitsune16 and Staryday thx for the reviews and support...ya. This chapter skips onwards by about two weeks, so Daisuke and Lady Yuki _should _be waking up around now. Also, I apologise for any unclear thoughts in any of the previous chapters because the computer wouldn't take the symbols I used to show different people's thoughts. Warning: Frequent usage of 'bastard'. Nothing stronger than that. Also, please note that I don't hate Risa, anyhow I don't think I made her too bad (did I?)

* * *

Amethyst eyes shot open as a soft thud echoed through the empty room. Registering that it was only one of the many pillows on the tiny bed, the eyes crinkled and you could almost see the owner's sheepish expression. Dark shifted slightly and turned his head to look at Daisuke, whom he expected to be still unconscious. To his immense surprise though, he felt the redhead's hand in his gently clenching. It was just a momentary thing, but Dark would be willing to swear in front of the High Lords that he felt it. The next thing he knew, he heard the bed creaking slightly and a whisper that was definitely not from him floated through the room. "Oww..."

Dark was so elated at this that he fairly shrieked in delight. "Dai-chan!" he squealed like an obsessed fan girl. "You're awake!"

Daisuke shifted slightly in the bed. He tried to open his eyes, but the lids felt too heavy. He tried to talk, but his lips wouldn't move. They were too dry. Daisuke was then made aware of something on his hand, and the way the wind blew across his bare arms. He couldn't move them though-like the rest of his body, they felt like dead lumps of lead. However, his hand shifted slightly and Daisuke, tired though he was, felt a surge of elation go through him. The slight movement caused pain to go through his arm though, and he whispered, "Oww..." A loud shriek assaulted his sensitive ears, and Daisuke winced slightly. A soft purple light filled the room, and Daisuke tried to think of people who could do magic that he knew. Satoshi the was only one who came up on his mental list-the blue-haired boy had been forced to use his power to stop Daisuke from collapsing when Krad beat him too much a handful of times. His magic was blue though, not purple. So who was it then? His mind flashed back to the shriek, and Daisuke realised that he'd heard it before-from Dark when he'd first walked into the kitchen and hugged Daisuke. _Dark _was in here? Since when did lords care about servant boys anyway?

The door burst open and four healers, all holding their special healing kits rushed into the room. "What's going on?" A tall, burly man demanded. Dark quickly turned around and flushed in embarrassment as he realised that he'd probably been just a little too loud. One of the other healers rushed towards the bed and began checking Daisuke over. The redhead promptly groaned at this and the woman's face lit up with a smile.

"Congratulations, Lord Dark," she told the purple haired lord. "Your...friend's better," she continued. It was obvious that she saw that Dark thought of Daisuke as more than a friend, but she didn't say anything, for which Dark blessed her silently. The other healers, however, were not so subtle. The burly man nudged his friend and both of them grinned at each other. Dark sighed as another lady healer smacked the grinning men over the head with her hand. After this little incident, the healers all departed the room and left Dark sitting with Daisuke, alone once again. Daisuke, you'd better get well soon, thought Dark to himself.

"Dark?" The young lord heard his name being whispered, and his head quickly jerked downwards to look at the younger teen. To his growing delight, he saw that Daisuke had finally managed to open his eyes. Not for the first time, Dark was struck by the ethereal and innocent beauty that the other teen possessed. Not knowing what he was doing, Dark placed his hand on Daisuke's face and caressed it gently. Leaning down, he kissed the younger boy's lips and marvelled at their softness. To his amazement, he felt the lips under his moving slightly. Pulling away, Dark felt a sense of guilt invade his senses-he felt like he was molesting a child even though he knew that Daisuke was around his age. Smiling slightly and reassured that Daisuke was going to pull through, the purple-eyed boy sat back down in his chair and fell asleep in a few moments.

**Next morning: **

Dark blinked and scowled slightly as the birdsong right outside his window woke him up bright and early in the morning. The sunshine beamed in through the window and lit up Daisuke's face especially, making it seem to glow. Dark smiled at the ruby-eyed boy, knowing that he was just asleep now. The purple haired boy slowly closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. To his disappointment, creepy bastard knocked on the door just to announce his presence and then walked in without waiting for an answer. Dark glared at the door as it opened, and then started laughing. The Ice Prince was holding a huge food loaded tray. This wasn't what made Dark laugh though-it was the fact that there was so much food on the tray that Satoshi's head was completely hidden by it. In fact, Dark was amazed that the teenager had managed to make it up the stairs into the Healers' Bay without dropping anything or crashing into someone. "Morning," Satoshi said, his voice softer than usual. "Is he better?"

Dark nodded. This question, like the bringing of loaded food trays up to Daisuke's room, had become something of a ritual with the two boys. For two weeks-ever since Krad's attack, Dark had stayed by Daisuke's side and Satoshi had given him food and whatever he needed to keep himself occupied. The long hours of boredom that Dark had felt were only relieved by the blue-haired boy's visits and the ray of hope that shone through every time Daisuke shifted or moved his lips. Today though, Dark felt nothing but sheer joy. The joy of being alive. The joy of having people who cared for you, even if they didn't show it. "Good morning Satoshi!" The teen bounced out of his chair and grabbed the tray of food, his face showing more delight and happiness than usual. Satoshi blinked. There was only one thing that could make Dark that happy...

"Daisuke's awake, I take it?" Satoshi inquired. Dark nodded happily, his wild bangs flying up and down his face.

"Yes! It was so cool, it was real late at night see, and I heard this thump so I woke up, right? Then..." Dark babbled on, giving a blow-by-blow account of Daisuke's 'coming around'. Satoshi rolled his eyes, but inwardly he was just as happy as Dark was. _They make such a cute couple...wait a minute! What am I thinking?! _Satoshi shook his head to clear it of romantic thoughts. Oh, to hell with that, Satoshi's evil half broke in. They make a cute couple. Denying it won't make matters easier, so just admit it. Go on-Daisuke and Dark make a cute couple. Satoshi growled and smacked himself in the forehead, causing Dark to look up from stuffing his face. "Mmmph...Satoshi, 're you 'kay?" Dark stared at his friend with puzzled amethyst orbs.

"Wha..?" Daisuke looked around to see that Dark and Satoshi were both in the room. Suppressing a groan of pain, he slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed. That gesture did it-both Dark and Satoshi rushed over to the bed, admonishing him and trying to make him lie back down again. "Daisuke, you shouldn't be doing that, especially not when you're injured! You need as much rest as possible," Satoshi said. Dark snickered from behind him. "What?" Satoshi demanded irritably. The depressed, sad boy that he had become when Daisuke hadn't been around was now gone, replaced by the old, irritable Head of the Kitchens. Dark smiled widely.

"Welcome back."

Even Daisuke had to snicker slightly at this comment as Satoshi glared at Dark. Of course, this soon stopped when the blue-haired boy stalked over to the lord and grabbed his ear. _Ow! _Yelled Evil Dark. _For someone who doesn't seem to do anything other than order people around, he sure has a strong grip! _Dark mirrored these sentiments and yelped. "OUCH! Stop hurting my ear, creepy bastard!" Daisuke turned bright red at Dark's strong language. Unfortunately, this comment didn't help the hapless young lord as Satoshi only strengthened his grip on the other boy's ear. Dark squirmed in pain and the expression on his face was priceless.

"Say sorry," Satoshi said dryly, "and I'll consider letting go."

Dark growled. "Me? Say sorry? Shouldn't you be saying sorry? You're the one who's pinching my ear!"

"You're the one who called me a...word that shouldn't be repeated in front of Daisuke."

"Oh?" Dark's lips curled upwards into his normal, cocky smirk. "Is that so..." Suddenly, a cloud of purple smoke engulfed him and he disappeared, only to reappear behind Satoshi (although well out of reach, Daisuke noticed). "Now, you were saying?" Dark asked sweetly. Satoshi rolled his eyes, muttered under his breath and then plopped down into the chair next to Daisuke's bed. "Daisuke, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Fine," the redhead replied. "My chest hurts a bit, but that's all really."

A novice healer entered the room and smiled when she saw Dark and Satoshi. The blue-haired boy had become a regular visitor ever since Daisuke had come into the Bay, and Lord Dark practically lived here, again ever since the little redhead had come in. Of course, Lady Yuki probably played some part in it too, but being something of a fangirl, she preferred the idea that Dark stayed for Daisuke ().

"Guys, stop it," pleaded Daisuke, trying to be the peacemaker like always. The two just looked at him and then continued to shoot looks at each other from opposite ends of the room. Satoshi, however, seemed to snap out of his Dark-induced fury and he immediately twisted around in the chair and started trying to make Daisuke lie down again with just about every method known to man. "Please Daisuke, you have to lie down if you don't want to hurt yourself more!" Satoshi pleaded, his voice even going up an octave to make him sound a little like a woman (Dark sniggered at the thought of Satoshi being a mother hen). Then he tried chastising the boy, sounding exactly like a stern father. The (now rather distraught) blue-eyed boy was unsuccessfully trying to stop Dark from making clucking noises and persuade Daisuke to stop mockingly calling him, 'Mom'.

After the whole fiasco was finally over, Riku walked into the room with a heavy scowl on her face and of course, her omnipresent Rolling Pin O' Doom. The Ice Prince took one look at her and immediately broke out into cold sweat. _Hm, you think creepy bastard has a liking for Riku? _Evil Dark casually asked. Dark's face broke out into an evil smirk. Let's test that theory, shall we? The purple haired lord proceeded to belt out an old children's song. "Satoshi and Riku, sitting in a tree, K-I---ack!" He was promptly thrown onto the floor and beaten up by a red-faced pair of kitchen staff. "Oh, come off it guys, I was just joking! Right, Dai-chan?" Dark pleaded with the cute ruby-eyed boy, who was vainly trying to break the fight up from the confines of his bed.

Satoshi and Riku finally left (much to Dark's relief), and once again the redhead and the purple-head were left alone in the room. "Um...how are you Daisuke?" Dark asked. _Great question, _Evil Dark mocked. Daisuke smiled slightly at Dark. "I'm fine, the wounds just hurt a little. I'll pull through though!" he added cheerfully, his optimism shining through. Dark's face immediately lit up and the smirk reappeared on his face as though by magic. Daisuke swallowed and wondered what the purple haired teen was thinking. He looked kind of cute with that face on...wait a minute! Did he just think of Dark as 'cute'? Sure, they'd kissed and stuff, but he didn't have any 'serious' feelings towards the other boy...right?

_Kiss him, kiss him, kiss him, kiss him...YAY! _Evil Dark cheered loudly as Dark moved towards Daisuke, a hungry look in his purple eyes. Daisuke blinked. "Uh...Dark? What are you doing?"

Dark's smirk grew wider and he leaned inwards towards the redhead. "What I always do to you," he whispered. Daisuke frowned. Dark chuckled slightly at the bemused look on the other boy's face. So innocent.

Daisuke blushed as he realised how close he was to the handsome young lord. "Da-Da-Dark, w-what are you doing?" Dark grinned widely and pressed his lips to Daisuke's. The little redhead could only gasp and whimper as pleasure assaulted his senses over and over again, and his hands came up to wrap themselves around Dark's neck as he kissed the purple haired teen feverishly. Dark moaned quietly as he reciprocated the favour and his hands started to roam across Daisuke's body. The two pulled away, panting and gasping for breath, their heads still spinning from the intensity of everything. As though drawn together by a magnet, Dark leaned forward and captured Daisuke's lips with his own again, and he felt the red-eyed boy respond eagerly. They kissed like this for a while until the door swung open and a soft cough interrupted their moment. The two lovers pulled apart quickly, Daisuke's face bright red with embarrassment. Satoshi entered the room, looking quite amused at the pair of them.

"You know," the blue haired boy commented, "If I didn't know Daisuke as well as I do, I would have thought that you and he were about to do the---mmph," Dark have slapped his hand over Satoshi's mouth, not letting him finish his sentence. The blue-haired boy glared at the lord, who only shrugged. Daisuke, however, was extremely puzzled. He didn't understand what his best friend was implying, and being naturally curious he asked.

"What're you talking about, Satoshi?" Satoshi's face remained the same, but his blue eyes danced with evil amusement. Dark, on the other hand, was extremely embarrassed. For some reason, he didn't want to spoil Daisuke's innocence by telling him exactly what the blue-haired boy was implying. Satoshi rolled his eyes from behind Dark's hand, and he looked so comical that Daisuke couldn't resist the urge to burst out laughing. "You look so funny Sato-chan!" The ruby-eyed boy laughed.

Dark caught onto what Daisuke had said and immediately began giggling. "Wow Satoshi, I didn't know you were a girl..."

"Shut up!" Satoshi growled slightly. He didn't like being called 'Sato-chan', and especially not by Dark. Just then, the door swung open again to reveal a teary-eyed Risa who was being supported by her sister. "Daisuke!" The younger brunette squealed. "You're alive!" The girl collapsed onto Daisuke's bed, burying her head in his chest and sobbing loudly. Satoshi, Riku and Dark all looked at each other and tried to hide their snickers of amusement. Daisuke, on the other hand, looked very uncomfortable. When he was younger, he might have given an arm and a leg gladly to have Risa hug him and show that she was concerned for him. Now...though...things were different. Somehow, Daisuke just didn't feel the giddiness than ran through him whenever he saw Risa when he had been younger. Somewhere along the line, though, those feelings had disappeared.

Dark, after trading looks with Satoshi and Riku, watched Risa like a hawk. He didn't want her pawing _his _Daisuke. Hold on..._his _Daisuke? Since when had the possessive thing slipped into this whole game, anyway? Sure, he'd had a thing for Daisuke since he first laid eyes on the teen, but that didn't mean anything...right?

_Oh yeah sure, _Evil Dark taunted. _Of course it doesn't mean anything. Just like the way your carrying Daisuke up these cursed stairways regardless of yourself meant anything. _

You have a point.

_Of course I do._ Dark could just hear the smugness in his evil half's mental voice. _I always do. I'm always your guiding light, your not-so-pleasant half. _

For once, you're actually serious, Dark observed wryly.

_I always am, _Evil Dark retorted. Funnily enough though, Dark couldn't hear any sarcasm or quirkiness in his inner demon's voice. _You just choose to ignore it. _

This was annoying. Oh Five Hoshi, I'm going mad. Something in my head's telling me that I'm ignoring myself. You know what? Just...shut up and leave me alone. Dark knew that he couldn't really be left alone, seeing as the other voice also resided inside him, but...well, he'd settle for a little peace.

_Just think about what I said, and get your feelings sorted out once and for all, Dark Mousy! _With those parting words, Evil Dark went back to the innermost corners of Dark's brain and disappeared from Dark's consciousness. Satoshi looked at Dark from behind Riku, and subtly pointed at Daisuke and Risa. Dark whipped around just in time to see Risa snuggle into Daisuke's chest, now apparently satisfied that he was going to recover in time. Dark felt an odd feeling rise up in his chest. He'd never felt this new, unfamiliar feeling before but right now, he felt like yanking Risa off Daisuke, tossing her onto the floor and then pulling Daisuke into a long, slow kiss-just to show Risa who was boss.

Satoshi watched the proceedings in front of him with great amusement. His blue eyes flickered from Risa and Daisuke on the bed to Dark, who was currently glaring at the young brunette like he wanted to kill her and feed her remains to the dogs. The blue-haired boy decided to do something that he would not normally do; use his small amount of magical power to read Dark's mind. Okay, the chances of it being blocked off were extremely high, but...well, the young lord's mind was probably too focused on the little scenario in front of him to notice a small needle working its way into his mind. Satoshi shut his eyes, pretending to ignore the pair on the bed and concentrated on channelling his power into Dark's mind. To his immense surprise (and delight), he found that Dark's mind was just as open as Daisuke's or Riku's was. He smirked inwardly as he felt Dark's emotions being communicated to him, jealousy being the predominant one at the moment. However, his amusement was short-lived as Dark turned around and glared at him. "Stop probing into my mind!" growled the amethyst-eyed boy. His tone of voice was enough to bring Daisuke and Risa out of their own little world and the two's heads whipped around. Daisuke went red to the roots of his hair and stammered out something incoherent, whilst Risa looked at Dark with (Satoshi privately thought) hearts in her eyes. Dark was, however, oblivious to this as he glared angrily at everyone around him. Normally he left his mind unguarded because most people didn't have the ability to read minds anyways, and also because those who could often thought that there was nothing of value in his head anyway. Risa, on the other hand, thought that the murderous expression on Dark's face was because he was jealous of her hugging Daisuke and therefore she bounced off the bed and hugged Dark, oblivious as ever. Dark, on the other hand, had other ideas. Daisuke was his. His. He was going to have to show Risa just exactly _who _Daisuke belonged to. Okay, sure, she might just be happy, but Dark couldn't bear the thought of anyone touching his Daisuke in a more-than-friendly way. Except him, of course. To Satoshi's amusement, the purple-haired young lord stalked over to Daisuke (who still looked embarrassed) and glared, looking a little similar to an offended cat. He then turned his gaze onto Risa, who immediately 'turned on the waterworks' (as they sometimes say in Chinese). Ignoring the sniffling girl, Dark promptly scooped Daisuke up in his arms and pressed his mouth over the other boy's, ignoring the muffled protests.

Daisuke had barely enough time to register that Dark seemed rather unhappy about something before he felt himself being lifted gently by the other boy and then kissed. He turned crimson as his mind reminded him that there were other people in the room. However, any objections that he might voiced were soon wiped away as he gave in to the warm and fuzzy feeling that Dark was giving him. The choking noises that Risa and Riku were making, as well as the priceless look on Satoshi's face faded into the background and Daisuke focused on Dark's lips pressing on his.

Satoshi was torn between the insane urge to laugh and blush at the same time. He hadn't thought that Daisuke would have been so comfortable with showing public displays of emotion with another boy, Lord Dark no less. _Oh well, _thought his sentimental side, _let them have their time together. Those two belong together. _Satoshi just sighed and averted his eyes, more out of politeness than anything else. Risa, on the other hand, did not take the information so calmly. Riku just stared and then began grinning. Some couples were just too cute for words...

Risa sobbed and stammered, "L-lord D-d-d-Dark, I..." Unable to find the words to describe what she felt, the young brunette burst into loud sobs. Riku just looked at her younger sister and quickly hustled the girl out of the room, but not before winking at both Daisuke and Dark. After the two girls were gone, Satoshi looked at the (now official) couple.

"Well," he said dryly, "you gave the girls quite a shock, I must say," After a moment's pause, he added, "Congratulations."

Daisuke didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to hide under the covers and never come out, but another part of him wanted to just tell Satoshi to shut up. However, he was saved from having to make a suicidal decision by Dark, who grabbed Daisuke possessively. Satoshi snickered at the look on the young lord's face as he glared at the door the two girls had just left through. As though he'd just thought of it, the amethyst-eyed boy rushed to the door, threw it open and yelled, "He's mine, Risa! Mine! Keep your hands off him!" After that incident, he closed the door again and turned around to face Daisuke and Satoshi (who were both very shocked). "You were saying?"

Suddenly, a cold blast of icy wind burst in through the door, and the whole room was filled with a cold, blue mist. The three boys couldn't see two inches in front of them, and groped around, frantically trying to feel each other. Dark and Satoshi suddenly heard Daisuke scream, although very faintly. They both tried to locate the redhead, but a cold and hard object whacked them in the backs of their heads and they both fell to the ground, unconscious.

**Daisuke: **

Daisuke gasped in pain as tiny, icy needles pierced through him from the cold. His chest wound flared up again and he could only whimper and shut his eyes. As he passed out, the last thing he heard was Krad's laughter.

**Hospital room: **

Dark groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. His purple eyes opened and he frowned, trying to remember the events of the last few minutes. Everything came flooding back to him and he quickly sat up and looked around, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. Satoshi, funnily enough, lay next to him. Dark quickly began shaking the boy and trying to wake him up. Luckily, the blue-haired boy recovered quickly and they two boys immediately burst out of the room. Apparently, no one had heard the commotion inside Daisuke's room.

* * *

Cliffhanger! Ok, I swear I'm going to kill Krad off once and for all in the next chapter. I think this one's the second last, so we're almost done! Reviews are craved and greatly appreciated. Oh yeah, I may not update for quite a while because I have to go to KK for a school trip...yeah. Thanks for everything guys!

Shoutouts:

KageKitsune16: Thank you for all the reviews and support you've given me, sorry I forgot to tell you that the 'new' chapter was the old chapter re-posted due to typos. Thanks again! Also I love your reviews, they always make me laugh a little (in a good way!)

Staryday: Lol thanks so much for the (actually quite substantial) reviews and all the support. Uh...yeah. Sorry about the confusion last time

Others: Um, sorry I kinda forgot your pennames already (author smiles sheepishly) but thank you for everything. Really.


	8. I Love You

**Chapter 8: I Love You**

Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel! Eesh, how many times do I have to say it!

A/N: Uh....you know how I said that this was going to be the last chapter? Er...well I went horribly wrong. This is not going to be the last chapter, but the story is winding down to a close. I'll try and make this one nice and rescue Daisuke. Expect a little sap here! Also, a few names from other animes (if you can name them all you have my eternal respect). Those animes don't belong to me either, by the way.

* * *

Daisuke slowly opened his eyes, feeling his chest wound throb in pain. Coldness surrounded him and he tried to locate where he was. Pain threatened to overwhelm him, but he forced it away. "You're awake, I see."

Daisuke's head whipped around, and he stared at Krad with terror in his eyes. He remembered all too clearly what that look on his face meant: a savage beating was in short order. The tyrannical lord smiled slightly at the look of abject fear on Daisuke's face before pulling out on of his famous icy daggers. A scream soon echoed through the forest, but no one heard it.

**Back in the castle: **

Dark groaned as he groggily opened his eyes. For a moment, he couldn't remember anything, but as usual the memories came back and anger surged within the young lord. He knew that he was on his own this time; his mother wouldn't be around to help him with her small power, and no one else that he knew would be willing to place their lives on the line for Daisuke. Okay, fine, maybe there were a few. However, Dark knew that this battle was ultimately between him and Krad-perhaps Daisuke would have indeed been better off if Dark had not started to 'court' him, if you could call their coming together courting. Picking himself up off the floor, the lord slowly staggered towards the door before opening it. At that point, Dark's mind was filled with nothing but how to find Daisuke and finish off Krad once and for all. He was so focused on this task that he didn't even notice Satoshi's form stirring slightly as he walked past the blue-haired Head of the Kitchens-that is, until said teen stirred.

Satoshi blinked slowly and frowned as a booted foot passed his view. What was he doing here again? Oh, yes. He had been talking to Daisuke and Dark, and then a cold blast of air had filled the room, and then...oh dear. He knew where Dark was going; there was only one logical conclusion anyway. Jumping up to his feet and ignoring the jolts of pain that came up from the back of his head, the blue haired boy rushed towards Dark, intent on making him see reason.

"Dark!" Dark heard his name called, but very faintly only, as though he were far away. "Dark!" Soon, he felt a gentle grip on his arm. Looking down, he found that it was Satoshi. "Think about it," the blue-eyed boy said. For once, his voice actually held a touch of human emotion in it. "Daisuke would not want you to get killed, and neither would your mother. Think everything out, and plan. Attack Krad when he least expects it. Besides, you can't do this on your own," The last sentence was said with a hint of amusement, the old, sardonic Ice Prince façade back in place. Dark frowned.

"Who's going to want to fight against Lord Krad with me? Who's to say that people here don't still have some loyalty towards Krad?"

Satoshi smirked, baring his teeth. Dark swallowed and reminded himself not to ever make Satoshi angry, or irritate him for that matter. "Trust me," the strategist said, "I'll win people over for you. The servants all hate him, and they're willing to help Daisuke. You have to be able to train them though; I doubt any of them have ever handled weapons besides axes and cutting knives."

"And rolling pins," Dark added, remembering with some amusement how Riku had clobbered both him and Satoshi with _that _particular 'war weapon'.

"And rolling pins," agreed Satoshi. The two boys laughed slightly, the tension now gone from the air. However, it soon returned as the two teenagers returned to planning their revenge on Krad and rescue of Daisuke. Throwing open the door, Dark felt a small sense of relief as he prepared himself to tell the other inhabitants of the castle what had happened to Daisuke...again. He was glad of Satoshi's support now, more than ever.

The novice walked past the room and looked at the door, smiling slightly giddily as she remembered the three teens who were in there. Okay, so only one of them was actually hurt, but the other two were enough to make up for it. Daisuke really was very cute, especially when he was asleep and off guard, and Lord Dark and Satoshi Hiwatari were both equally gorgeous, each in their own way. Daisuke was cute because he was innocent, Dark had that 'sexy and mysterious' aura about him and Satoshi had a 'you may look but don't touch' aura around him. All in all, they were a very good looking bunch, you could say. The novice smiled and wondered whether any of them had noticed her. She quietly shook her head and was just about to continue on her way with the dirty linen when the door burst open with a loud crash. She turned around quickly, just in time to see Dark and Satoshi burst out of the room. Dark immediately grabbed her and began shaking her furiously, yelling, "Have you seen Krad anywhere?"

The novice's eyes opened wide with shock before she started choking because of Dark's strong grip. However, the blue-haired boy (Satoshi) grabbed Lord Dark's arms, pulling the enraged teen off her before she could suffocate. Gasping for breath and gently rubbing her throat, the novice shook her head frantically before taking off. Dark growled in helpless frustration whilst the only person he felt was helping him in the world right now was gently trying to make him see the logic in not attacking every single person they saw in the hopes of finding out whether anyone had seen Krad. Besides, if they had, they would probably be dead.

A healer that neither Dark nor Satoshi knew ran over, her light blue robes billowing out behind her. "Excuse me," she said in a stern tone, "but what are you doing, making such a commotion?"

Dark indignantly opened his mouth to try and impress his rank on her. However, the woman did not seem to be phased. Instead, she retorted, "Lord or no, you should still have some respect for others who have been hurt or are sick!" Then she took a closer look at him and blinked. "Wait a minute...you're Lady Yuki's son, aren't you?" Dark nodded silently, hoping that she would have mercy on him. "Well," she continued her tirade, "you should have even more cause to be quiet. You want your mother to get better soon, don't you?" With that parting remark, the short woman walked off, leaving Dark gaping at her back like a fish out of water.

Satoshi meanwhile looked around at the rooms and the people hurrying past him. He couldn't afford to waste his time listening to Dark and the healer arguing; he needed to find someone that he knew. This was a bit of a problem because he only knew a few of the people who worked in the Bay. However, he soon spotted the green-haired girl that Dark had called Maya. He hastily ran over and tapped her on the shoulder, hoping that she wouldn't yell at him. The startled woman turned around and when she saw who it was, she smiled slightly. However, the smile soon disappeared as she took in the panicked look on the normally composed boy's face. "Why, what's the matter?" she asked, praying fervently that Daisuke hadn't died or worse.

"He's gone!" Satoshi blurted out. His explanation came out faster than his mouth could process the words, so the whole story came out albeit a little jumbled. Maya could, fortunately, understand what Satoshi was trying to tell her and her brown eyes opened wide in horror.

"Are you sure Krad took him?" She asked, trying to keep calm.

"Yes!" Satoshi shouted back. "I'm sure! There was ice all over the place!"

Maya nodded. Then she quickly rushed to a door and opened it, sticking her head in. To Satoshi's puzzlement, she closed the door and faced him looking slightly relieved. "Well, if Krad was really here, at least he didn't finish Lady Yuki off."

Satoshi nodded silently, when he felt Dark's presence from behind him. He felt the other boy relax slightly in relief and turned around to face amethyst eyes. "Is my mother going to wake up soon?"

The green-haired woman smiled at the pair of them. "Why Dark," she joked, her voice slightly mocking, "Don't tell me that you've been spending all your time with Daisuke!"

Dark's eyes opened wide in amazement. "She's...awake?" he asked in a barely audible voice. The shorter woman nodded. "...OH MY..!" Dark rushed towards the door Maya had just peeked into like a giant black and purple whirlwind, before long Satoshi and Maya could hear loud yells of delight, most likely from Dark. These were punctuated by soft murmurs, which they took to be Lady Yuki's voice. Satoshi decided to walk in and see how the woman was doing-after all, she was the only one with enough power to influence the Lords' decisions and make them realise that Krad was a sadistic, homicidal maniac who should have been thrown into prison a long time ago. Satoshi sighed to himself-he really was going crazy. He slowly pushed open the door and entered the room. To his surprise, Lady Yuki was sitting up in bed, her long blond hair in a neat but intricate braid with no signs of the giant wound she had borne just a few weeks ago. Satoshi bowed, actually filled with respect for this person.

Lady Yuki smiled slightly at the blue-haired boy in the doorway. If she remembered correctly, this was the boy who the young Daisuke had once called 'big brother'. He'd grown up too-they all had. "It's all right, Satoshi," she said in a comforting way. The boy looked up at her, his eyes wary. _Yes, _she thought to herself, _he's grown up, but his eyes still hold the same look. _The blue-haired boy's eyes held the same look of wariness now as they had years before. _He's softened a little though, _she added to herself as an afterthought. "Is there something wrong?" she asked calmly. The barely concealed storm of emotions raged unchecked in Satoshi's eyes.

"You didn't tell her yet, Dark?" Blue eyes turned their sharp gaze onto the purple haired teen.

"No," Dark admitted sheepishly. "I didn't think she needed the shock just yet."

Satoshi shrugged. "If you say so."

Once again, Lady Yuki felt slightly amused. She wasn't even forty yet, and people were already treating her like one of the elderly. However, her curiosity was piqued, and she wanted to know who-or what-the two boys were discussing. If it had been anyone else other than Krad's Head of the Kitchens, she would have thought that Dark was planning on telling her about the results of his latest prank-gone-wrong. "All right," she said dryly. "Enough talking about me as though I'm not there. As for you," she said playfully to Dark, "I'll decide when I'm too old to bear the shock of anything that _you _might have to tell me. Out with it."

Dark rolled his eyes and chuckled slightly. Satoshi didn't smile, or show any facial expression, but he relaxed slightly. Yuki smiled-the tension in the room was a little less now. Dark sighed and his expression became serious once more as he looked at his mother. "Daisuke's gone and Krad's alive."

To everyone's surprise, Lady Yuki didn't react as badly as they thought she would. Instead, she faced the pair calmly, although her blue eyes sparked with the fire of anger. "I expected that to happen, although I must admit you two didn't do a very good job of protecting Daisuke then, did you?" Her stern tone hushed any excuses that either of the two teenagers might have made at that point. "However," she added, "I must consider that Krad is...more...skilled in this area of...knowledge," she murmured thoughtfully. "You two have also, in reality, done far more than is expected of you. We cannot wait for you to recover though-we must find Krad and Daisuke as soon as possible."

Both boys nodded, one slightly more impatiently than the other. Satoshi had almost lived by the code, 'Revenge is best served cold', although admittedly that had been used for less dire matters than this one.

"Lady Yuki," Satoshi spoke out, his voice quiet but unwavering. "I suggest that we work out a plan before attacking. We should try and spy on Krad with that...scrying spell I believe it's called?" At the nods he received, he continued slightly louder, gaining confidence. "If he has blocked himself out to all magical receptivity, then I think that we may have to send out scouts and have them search the surrounding area. After we've located where he and Daisuke are, we can work out the best plan of attack."

Lady Yuki nodded approvingly. There really was nothing to do except try and find Krad quickly. Dark nodded, but only reluctantly. He didn't want to think about the kinds of mental and physical torture that Daisuke might be going through right now. (Me: Big cliché!)

**Cavern: **

Krad smiled at his captive. Pointing one long finger at the redhead in front of him, he whispered another freezing spell that was sure to kill the boy within another day if left for too long. Well...one day was enough to get Lady Yuki and his castle back. He turned his back on the pitiful, bleeding and ice coated figure and walked out into the maze of rock that surrounded the whole area.

Daisuke shut his eyes tightly as he felt the ice slowly creep up his legs. He prayed silently for something, anything that would deliver him from the hands of his sadistic uncle. Just as the cold became too much to bear, a pleasant warmth suffused the whole cave. Fire burst out of nowhere and began licking at the ice, melting it into a puddle of water. Daisuke's ruby eyes widened in even more fear as the fire worked its way up towards the huge wound in his chest (which was still bleeding sluggishly). However, he stared in amazement as the fire did not burn him. Instead, it gently lapped at the edges of the wound and the redhead stared in amazement as it slowly began to close up. Kinks worked themselves out of his back, the cuts and bruises that Krad had given him the night before Dark came closed up and disappeared. In addition, the fire seemed to push new energy into Daisuke, making him able to stand up again. Thanking the deities that were watching over him, the redhead walked out into the maze, hoping to find the exit. _Please stay with me for just a little longer, _he prayed silently.

Dark sat again in the confines of his own room, frowning sadly as he went over all the memories of Daisuke. He knew that he should be grateful that people were even bothering to look for the cute redhead instead of just calling him an 'expendable life', but the idea that only a few people were looking for him. Dark groaned and walked down to the library in the huge castle because there was just simply nothing to do. Satoshi would probably beat him up if he dared set foot in the kitchens when they were cooking, and besides he didn't feel like dealing with Risa right now.

**In the library: **

Dark grabbed another ancient, rotting volume off the dusty shelves and flipped through it absent-mindedly, looking for layouts of the whole castle. However, one particular page caught his eye; it held a picture of a supposedly secret network of underground caverns that ran under the castle and landed in the middle of those rolling hills...Dark whipped around and stared at the hills from outside the library's window. Hope rose in his heart. Hold on Daisuke, I'm coming for you.

Dark rushed through the corridors like a giant purple whirlwind, crashing through the place with no regard whatsoever for the people walking along the corridors with things such as big heavy laundry baskets in their hands. As a result, fourteen more people ended up in the Bay and a certain green-haired healer tugged at her hair in frustration.

Dark burst into his mother's room, ignoring the fact that she was talking to someone else. Instead of being polite and patient and waiting for his mother to finished talking, he interrupted her conversation. "Mom!" he yelled. "I think I found out where Krad is keeping Daisuke!"

Lady Yuki ignored the loud noise of the door as it slammed into the wall. She was trying to concentrate on what the man in front of her was saying, but his voice was so monotonous and the topic so tedious that she might have long fallen asleep had it not been for the fact that, well, she had a reputation to preserve. However, it still came as a great relief to her when her hot-blooded son had burst in through the door, and an even greater relief when he said that he'd found Daisuke. She knew that if he was left to his own devices, he would eventually come up with some new piece of information that would enable them to perhaps-just perhaps-become a step ahead of Krad. She quickly dismissed the Minister of Finance (or whatever he was called) and turned to face Dark. "Well?" she asked impatiently, "what is it?"

Dark waved the book around and showed her the page where he'd found all the information about the secret passages. Yuki nodded silently, processing all the information quickly and efficiently in her brain. "Fine," she said shortly after her son had finished speaking. "Choose as many men as you need and check those passages," Dark nodded and left, fervently hoping that Daisuke was all right.

**In the caverns: **

Daisuke crept around a large rock pillar, praying that Krad would not turn around and see him. _If only I had a ball of thread or something, like Theseus did, _he thought wistfully. Although he didn't notice it, his newfound power recognised his wishes and sent out a needle thin thread of fire that attached itself to the ice lord without his noticing anything. Daisuke then blinked as his eyes noticed a small thin line of light. Not being one to question a gift when it was given to him (well, normally anyways) Daisuke followed the thin line, hoping that it would lead him out of this hell and away from Krad. Just then, Dark's image popped up in Daisuke's mind, and he wondered whether he would ever get out of this alive. _What do I feel for Dark? _He wondered to himself as he walked along the paths. The crazy, purple-haired boy's face kept popping up in his mind at the oddest times. For some reason, Daisuke was worried about him. _What will he say when he wakes up? Will he hate me? Will he...? _Daisuke realised that he had stopped walking, and continued on his, way still lost in his thoughts. A strange idea popped into his head and Daisuke decided to put it to the test. He still remembered the strange (and embarrassing) questions Satoshi had asked him after he had asked the blue-haired boy whether he was in love with Dark or not.

_Flashback_

_Satoshi stared through his glasses at Daisuke. "What makes you think that you are in love with Dark?" _

_Daisuke stared down at the bed sheets and fidgeted. "I...don't know if I am!" _

_The Head of the Kitchens raised one eyebrow. "I see. And you want me to figure it out for you?"_

_Daisuke nodded slightly, still feeling embarrassed. The fact that Satoshi didn't seem to be smiling or acting 'normal' was also a little off-putting. _

_Satoshi noticed the glum look on Daisuke's face. "Well..." he started, unsure of what to say to his best friend and 'younger brother'. "Do you feel all...giddy and stuff when you think about Dark?" _

_Daisuke thought for a moment and then nodded slightly, blushing furiously. "I don't know why!" he wailed. "I always felt like that when Risa was around, but after Dark came then the feelings just kind of left, and...and...and..." Satoshi cut him off. _

"_Next question: Do you notice odd little things about Dark that you think are completely adorable?" Daisuke stared at his friend with a blank expression on his face. Satoshi rubbed his temples: this was going to be a long talk. _

"_As in, do you think that any particular habit that Dark has is particularly...eye-catching?" _

_Again, silence. Daisuke then looked up and nodded shyly. "I...think...I think that the way he runs his fingers through his long bangs is nice," he ventured shyly. Satoshi forced himself not to wince and ruthlessly squashed the thought that Daisuke was turning into a Dark-obsessed fangirl. "And I like the way he smiles," Daisuke continued, still blushing madly. "It's not that evil smirk; it's that nice smile he always seems to have on whenever he's talking to me, or after we..." _

_Satoshi decided that he'd heard enough. "Okay, next question," he said hastily. He really didn't want to hear any more about Dark and Daisuke's...activities. In fact...how _had _they actually managed to get to know each other that well? On second thoughts, he'd better not ask that question. _

_End Flashback_

Daisuke smiled a little to himself at that memory, despite the gravity of the situation he was now in. He'd managed to answer all of those questions that Satoshi had asked, but now that he was looking back, only he could tell for sure. Even the blue-haired boy had warned him that he was the only one who could truly answer that question. Daisuke decided to have another one of those talks with Dark. The last time they'd tried to have one, it had been interrupted by Krad and his icicles. Right now though, he was going to focus on escaping from this place.

**Castle entrance: **

Dark looked around, distractedly running his long fingers through his unruly hair. His mind was focused completely on Daisuke, and he almost forgot about his surroundings until one of the men tapped him on the shoulder. "Lord Dark," the man said, "We are ready to move."

Dark blinked and stared at the soldier, forcing his mind to go back to more practical matters. "All right," he said, trying to smile, "We will..." his mind operated on auto-pilot and without his knowing it, Dark led the scouts to the entrance of the caves.

**In the caverns: **

Krad swept through the long tunnels with ease. Suddenly, he felt something...tugging at him. It felt hot; the element in use was definitely fire. What...? An evil smirk tugged at the corners of the blonde's lips. _So the last Niwa has learned to use his power? This will make things more interesting indeed. _Sending out a thread of his own power, Krad tracked down Daisuke's location and frowned. Apparently the boy had somehow healed himself and even broken that ice spell. Well, that was a minor matter. Krad quickly snapped off the thin thread of fire hanging onto him and smirked as he heard a soft thud. Daisuke was going to suffer. He turned silently and re-traced his steps until gold met crimson. The redhead swallowed hard and shut his eyes tightly, bracing himself for pain.

**Entrance of caverns: **

Dark stared in dismay at the map as he rode towards the hills that it mentioned. If the map was truly accurate, there would be enough tunnels and caverns in the area to keep his team and him busy for a year or more. With a quick prayer, the determined young lord entered the cavern's mouth.

Dark looked around and frowned. He could swear that he'd heard a soft thump just now, but so far no one else had seemed to hear anything. He decided to go investigate the source of the noise just in case, anyway. Besides, the likelihood of a thump being commonly heard in caves was something he had yet to hear of. Telling a random soldier that he was going off on his own, Dark set off in the direction of the noise.

**An hour later: **

Dark glared at the stone pillars surrounding him. He'd been walking for a long time now, but nothing unusual had turned up so far. He was just about to turn around and head back towards the group, when suddenly a flash of brown on the grey floor caught his eye. The lord carefully bent down and examined it closely. With a sinking heart, he recognised it to be blood. Crap. Without thinking, Dark rushed off down the pathway, the instinct to protect a loved one strong in him.

**Daisuke: **

Daisuke whimpered slightly as he tried hard not to move and jolt his right arm, or anything else for that matter. Krad had somehow managed to re-open every single wound he'd suffered from within the last few days, and by some twisted whim of fate he was still conscious. He shut his eyes tightly and prayed as hard as he could. Krad's cold laughter echoed down the corridors of the caverns, bouncing off the walls and surrounding the redhead.

**Dark: **

Dark straightened himself from the floor, to which he had been glued to since he'd spotted the small bloodstains. They seemed to have stopped though-the last stain had been ages ago. He continued walking however, sure that there would be some kind of trail. Fifteen minutes later, he felt something...hot tugging at him. It wasn't the physical sense of hot; more like a hot kind of magic. Am I... Dark frowned; there was only one possible explanation for this kind of feeling-magical residues. Judging from the way they felt, it seemed that someone had used fire magic here quite recently. However, the purple haired teen thought that Daisuke couldn't use magic. He knew that it wasn't Krad's; unless the man was an Elemental (and therefore just short of a deity), the magic would either have to be one of the trackers' that he brought with him, or Daisuke's. Since it couldn't be the tracker...elation and hope burst through Dark's mind. Again he rushed deeper into the network of caverns, his map and team long forgotten.

**Soldiers:**

Heero growled in frustration as he looked around for Dark. The last he'd seen of the man was when he'd led them to this cursed place! Now he was stuck here with about fifty men with absolutely no idea of where he was and there was no map. Worst of all, the men were starting to get restless and he knew that restless soldiers were the worst to deal with. As though to confirm his assessment, Yusuke, the loudmouth of the team, yelled, "What's going on up there?!" Kuwabara, his 'other half' (as Heero personally thought of it), emphasised the mood of the whole team by yelling some rather inappropriate comments and using some colourful language whilst at it. Finally, Heero reached the end of his tether and told the two soldiers to shut up. Heero then decided to let his men relax a bit, because he knew that they would probably be stuck in this cavern for a lot longer.

**Dark: **

Dark raced along the pathways, his cloak flaring out behind him and all pretences to silence long forgotten. All he wanted to do was find Daisuke, maybe inflict a few painful wounds on Krad if he met the man and get the hell out of here. To his relief and delight, a large opening gaped in front of him, and it seemed to be the end of the tunnel. In the middle of the floor lay Daisuke, coughing up blood weakly. Purple eyes met crimson for an instant and Daisuke slowly shut his eyes, no longer having the strength to keep them open. Dark's eyes widened in horror and he rushed over to the body on the stone floor, already chanting the strongest healing spells that he knew under his breath. To his relief, the wounds began to close up. Picking the still unconscious boy up, Dark ran towards the cave fervently praying that he wouldn't encounter Krad.

**Krad: **

Krad sat on a large lump of smooth rock watching Dark pick Daisuke up. The ice lord's face was completely blank and devoid of emotion. However, his mind was ticking away. He had planted a little something inside one of Daisuke's wounds that would not only poison the boy slowly over a period of time, but it would also enable him (Krad) to control Daisuke's actions whenever he wished. Best of all, Dark had sealed the little shard into Daisuke's body by healing him, so there was no way to get the thing out. Unless...well, that wasn't a method anyone would think of anyway. Krad shifted slightly, his robes rustling softly. Stage two would soon commence.

**Dark: **

Dark puffed and panted his way through the caverns, praying that he did not get lost in them. Daisuke shifted slightly in his arms, and the purple haired lord found himself thanking whoever was up there. Daisuke seemed to be recovering from the shock of being healed. "Dark?" Daisuke croaked out. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

Despite the gravity of the whole situation, Dark laughed out loud. Daisuke was better now; he was going to be all right, and when he glimpsed a small line of light, everything just got ten times better. They were going to make it out, without Krad on their tails! Laughing with exhilaration, Dark leapt towards the light-and tripped over something soft and warm.

"Ow, f!" Dark looked down to see a much squashed looking soldier beneath him. The man gasped and wheezed, trying to catch his breath. Heero, on the other hand, had leapt up almost instantly as soon as he'd heard the noise that Dark was making. He now looked at the pair and covered his mouth to hide a snicker. "You know Dark, I thought you were in love with Daisuke. Isn't he enough for you?"

At these words, all the soldiers roared with laughter whilst Dark just smirked and got off the soldier. "No way Hee-man, you know what I'm like!" the cheeky teen responded with a wink.

Another man shouted out, "Hey Dark, the way you were carrying Daisuke, I would have thought that you two were about to carry him over the threshold!" More laughter greeted this statement and Daisuke buried his bright red face in his hands. Dark seemed to remember that the small redhead was next to him and swept the younger boy up. He leaned towards Daisuke and the boy blushed.

Daisuke stared at Dark and whispered softly, so that no one else could hear, "Aishiteru."

The purple haired boy gasped. "Are...are you sure?" he whispered back, ignoring the soldiers. "I mean, you don't have to feel obliged-"

Daisuke cut him off. "I'm sure," he said shyly. "I was doing some thinking in the cave, and..." he decided that actions were better than words and leaned forward to gently press his lips to Dark's.

Catcalls and whistles filled the air as the soldiers watched the two newly proclaimed lovers kissing. Dark responded quickly and slipped his tongue into Daisuke's mouth. _Hehehehe, doesn't he taste nice? I bet you'd like to run your—_Dark quickly cut his evil half off and continued to kiss Daisuke, savouring each moment. He moaned softly as the little redhead returned the favour eagerly and their tongues duelled in passion and relief. The soldiers, upon seeing that the two were not about to stop any time soon, pulled the two apart and hurried back to the castle, knowing that Krad could come after them any time soon.

**Back in the castle: **

Daisuke walked into the castle and looked around the familiar courtyard. He was barrelled into once again by Risa, who (again) collapsed into loud sobs. She clutched onto his shirt and sobbed with relief, ignoring Dark's jealous looks. Finally, the purple haired lord could stand the girl clutching HIS Daisuke like that and yanked her off the redhead. "What did I say," he asked calmly to Risa, "about Daisuke?"

The brunette had absolutely no idea (or else she had already forgotten) and tears began to well up in her eyes again. Dark sighed and grabbed Daisuke, pressing his lips to the other boy's and kissing him passionately. Risa could only stare in shock as 'her' beloved Dark kissed another boy, Daisuke for that matter. She could not take the shock any longer and promptly fainted into Trowa's arms. Dark lifted his mouth from Daisuke's and looked at Risa calmly. "He's mine, Harada-san," he stated coolly. "Don't forget that."

Satoshi ran out, abandoning his cool demeanour for his best friend. "Daisuke!" the normally reserved blue-haired boy shouted. "You're all right!" He swept the shorter boy up and whirled him around, almost how a young man might swirl his fiancée around. Dark again saw red, but Quatre's hand on his arm reminded him that Satoshi felt nothing for Daisuke that way. As soon as Satoshi was finished with chastising Daisuke and checking him over for wounds, Dark swept his boyfriend into his arms and carried him up to the castle. Much to the young couple's embarrassment, Duo, another of the soldiers, broke out into a sappy love song. The others joined in and Dark and Daisuke walked up to the castle with the song trailing behind them. For a moment, Dark knew that Daisuke was safe and with him. For a moment, everything was all right. Somehow, he and Daisuke would make it through.

* * *

Whew! Authoress wipes forehead Is that sappy ending enough? Like I said before, this isn't the last chapter, and I don't think I'll be done lol. Sorry for the false alarm. I hope you guys like this chapter, I made it extra long to make up for the absence of updates (I was caught up in schoolwork and I just had a school trip). Anyhow, shoutouts to my reviewers:

Dark hikari7: Thank you for your review, short and to the point lol. I'm glad you enjoy the story so much!

Shatterednight: Awww shucks, I'm so honoured to be the recipient of your first review! . Lol of course you would die at the cliffhangers, that's what they're for!

KageKitsune16: Ah my loyal reviewer (lol) I hope you like this chappie! I finally gave Daisuke and Dark a break ne? Thank you for the loads of support (I have a feeling you gave me enough to kill a team of oxen). I'm glad you liked Dark's possessiveness ('He's mine!')

Myinuyasha04: Hehehe, Dai-chan finally catches a break here! I even healed him and all for you! Thanks for the review!

Staryday: Ah another of my loyal reviewers! Thank you so much for all your support, oh never mind the weird comment, I was probably being random. Thank you!

FallenAngel0104: Thanks for the review, you're one of the few ppl who review at the first chapter I take it? Anyhow, thank you!

Anyone I didn't mention: Don't worry ppl, if you reviewed and I didn't mention you up there, I still owe you a big thank you! Thanks for all the support guys! Also, if you know the animes from where the soldiers come from I salute you (because apparently the first one isn't the biggest hit).


	9. The Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 9: The Calm Before the Storm**

Disclaimer: For the last time: I DO NOT OWN DN ANGEL! Authoress sits down panting heavily

A/N: Thank you to all the people who reviewed so far and supported me...yeah (this sounds like the beginning of one of those cheesy speeches stars make when they receive an award). Anyhow, enjoy the story! Any warnings that I might put here are now gone, you've advanced far enough into the story not to be disgusted (I hope) by anything here. Also, I would just like to apologise for a minor mistake: Apparently, Krad's eyes are golden. However, I used blue for his eye colour so I'm changing it from this chapter onward to gold. Could someone please just clarify for me: Are Krad's eyes blue or gold? Thanks! Oh yeah...fluff and angst abound in this chapter (it's a weird combo, I know).

* * *

Dark closed his eyes in contentment as he lay with his head on Daisuke's lap (argh not that way you hentais!). It was a hot day, but the shade from the tree which the two were sitting under provided some relief as well as the slight breeze that was blowing around. Daisuke looked down at his boyfriend and stroked the wild but surprisingly soft strands of purple hair. Dark looked up at the redhead with a mischievous gleam in his violet eyes. "Hey Dai-chan," he whispered. "You look so cute like that!" Daisuke blinked and cocked his head with an adorably confused look on his face. Dark couldn't resist the look and as usual, he raised himself up slightly on his elbows and kissed Daisuke. The redhead blushed furiously (still) but kissed back anyway. The two stayed like that for a while until Dark felt his elbows cramping and had to lie back down. 

"Dark..." Daisuke asked.

"Yeah?"

"Someone's watching us."

The purple haired lord jerked up. When he saw that Satoshi was watching them, he flopped back down onto Daisuke's lap again. "Hey creepy bastard, jealous?" Satoshi rolled his eyes at the older boy and joined the pair under the tree.

"You wish," the blue haired Head of the Kitchens shot back. Everyone laughed, including Dark. Daisuke smiled down at Dark, who was now pretending to pout at Satoshi. The three chatted for a while about light subjects such as Satoshi's 'look-but-don't-touch' attitude, Dark's flirtatiousness and Daisuke's inability to talk about anything related to public displays of affection (at which Daisuke turned beet red). All in all, it was a very idyllic scene. Lady Yuki had given the three boys a day off, something rare for both Satoshi and Daisuke. The redhead had spent the day so far just talking with Dark and sometimes kissing. Satoshi, on the other hand, had spent his day in the library. Although he would not admit it to anyone, he had a passion for reading that was unrivalled by anyone else's. He'd been itching to get his hands on some of those incredibly rare (and expensive) volumes that Krad had in his library and so had seized the opportunity that Lady Yuki had given him today.

"Hey Dai-chan?" Dark asked sleepily, opening one amethyst orb to peer at his lover. Satoshi raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but said nothing. He diverted his attention to the thick tome that lay on his lap. He'd taken it out from the library because the title had intrigued him and he hadn't wanted to spend the whole day cooped up inside the library. Curious, Daisuke looked over at the title of the volume, ignoring Dark for a moment. Satoshi cast him an amused glance, rather like when they had been younger and Daisuke would always walk over to his 'big brother' to see what he was doing.

"Dai-chan!" Dark repeated a little louder than before. "What're you looking at?"

Daisuke answered his lover and then turned again towards the blue-haired boy. "Ne, Satoshi, what are we going to do about Krad?" He felt his best friend stiffen up, and Satoshi turned to face him. His blue eyes were a shade darker, which meant that he was tense and wary. Before he had to answer though, Dark cut in because he knew that Satoshi would probably lose his temper. Somehow, thoughts of the blonde ice lord always managed to set Satoshi off nowadays.

"Don't worry about it," Dark said confidently. "Mom and I have already made plans, along with Sato-chan over there," He nodded as he said these words, pointing his chin at Satoshi as he mentioned the other boy's name. Daisuke frowned, looking slightly worried still. He remembered all too well what would happen if Krad managed to get him again. His head began to throb and Daisuke clapped a hand to his forehead, trying to alleviate some of the pain that he was feeling. Dark looked worriedly at his loved one and frowned. "Daisuke, are you sure you're all right?"

Daisuke nodded, ignoring the throbbing pain that shot through his head. Dark frowned. "Isn't that the second time you've had a headache today?" the older boy asked. Daisuke nodded, but quickly reassured the other boy that he really was fine. Dark didn't seem to take this answer though, and mouthed something to Satoshi (who was sitting on Daisuke's right). The blue haired boy caught the message and paused thoughtfully before nodding. "One, two.." Dark counted. "THREE!" he bellowed and Satoshi leapt on Daisuke and began tickling his ribs mercilessly. Dark flipped himself onto his belly with amazing agility (considering his former position) and attacked Daisuke's belly, another sensitive spot with the boy. Daisuke laughed and writhed around on the ground, trying to avoid his two friends' hands. Dark seized an opportunity and groped Daisuke, much to the redhead's embarrassment and Satoshi's horror.

"Dark!" yelled a furiously blushing Satoshi. "Kindly leave Daisuke alone until you two are in a room, _on your own_!"

Dark snickered. "Gladly," he drawled. "Would you like to know what he feels like?" Satoshi spluttered and choked, his face turning an even brighter shade of red than Daisuke's hair (if that was at all possible). Finally, he stood up and picking up his book, the blue-eyed boy stalked off bristling a little like an angry cat. Dark just laughed at his retreating friend's back, and then gulped as a gust of wind blew around him, building a wall of solid air between him and the rest of the world. Satoshi turned back to grin uncharacteristically evilly at Dark.

Daisuke could only stare in amazement at the wall of wind that had somehow built itself around him. I thought Satoshi was a healer? the lord thought, stunned. He had never thought that Satoshi was also a Wind Weaver. Then again, perhaps it wasn't so surprising. People always tended to reflect their power in their personality, and Wind Weavers were renowned for their cool and calm demeanour that could change in the blink of an eye. Satoshi definitely fit the bill there. Speaking of magic...Dark turned his gaze to Daisuke. Was Daisuke a Fire Forger? After all, Dark was willing to bet anything that he had that Daisuke could work with fire. All the Niwas could, and it was highly unlikely that Daisuke would be exempt from that power. He decided to talk to his mother about the redhead. Standing up with a decisive air, Dark nodded to himself and walked forward-right into the solid wall. "Ouch!"

Daisuke could only watch hopelessly as Dark glared at the Wind Cage that Satoshi had placed him in. Suddenly, the redhead smiled widely. He remembered the cave, and how that fire had just sprung out of nowhere and healed him. Maybe...maybe he could get Dark out of there with his magic! Daisuke frowned and concentrated, sticking his tongue out slightly like he always did whenever he was concentrating hard on something. Dark immediately stopped and could only stare and drool at Daisuke. The boy looked so cute regardless of the expression on his face!

Daisuke concentrated hard, forming images of fire shooting out of his hands. He'd seen pictures of people with fire coming out their hands in the books that Lady Yuki had given him when he was little. Suddenly, heat blasted in his face and Daisuke stared at the tornado of fire that now swirled around the Cage. To his amazement, the wall shimmered and the fire disappeared, leaving Dark behind. Both fire and wind seemed to have vanished out of existence. Dark could only stare in amazement at Daisuke, and then his worry for the boy's health came back in full force as the diminutive redhead collapsed on the ground.

**Caverns: **

Krad stared impassively at the giant ice mirror in front of him. The poison was starting to act up now, was it? Right in time for his ultimatum, too. Things just couldn't get any better than they already were, and the Niwa brat probably wouldn't even get enough time to control his power properly before the poison killed him. Headaches were the first stage, but overuse of your magic could speed the killing process up because it weakened you to the point of exhaustion.

**Castle: **

"Mother!" Dark shouted as he crashed into the Bay, once again holding an unconscious Daisuke in his arms (think about the look on Dark's face in the 1st comic when Daisuke changes for the first time). Lady Yuki immediately shot up at the sound of her son's voice and then fell back on the pillows wincing. "Are you alright?" Dark asked with concern in his voice. Lady Yuki sat up again (although this time a little more slowly) and faced her son.

"Of course I am," she said sweetly. Dark shivered inwardly, and even Evil Dark cowered in a corner of his brain, too scared to say anything. "Now..." Lady Yuki's eyes narrowed, "TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" she roared. To the amusement of the healers, Dark screamed like a girl and ran out of the room. The lady only looked up at the ceiling and sighed. _3...2...1..._BANG. The door flew open, and a sheepish looking Dark walked in again, this time with his arms empty because a healer outside had taken Daisuke.

"Er...I think Daisuke and Satoshi both have magic," Dark said nervously, because he didn't know what his mother would do. Lady Yuki raised an eyebrow, looking at her son.

"Is that so?" she asked, absentmindedly twirling a stray strand of blond hair around her finger. Her blue eyes, however, were as sharp as hawk's eyes. Dark nodded. "How far are they?" Yuki asked. Dark frowned. From the little that he'd seen of Satoshi's magic, either the boy was mixed magic-half healing and half Wind-or else he had learned to control his Wind magic to the extent of its becoming incredibly versatile. As for Daisuke...well, his magic was quite powerful, enough to break a Wind Cage. Well...either that, or else creepy boy had deliberately weakened the spell so that it would disappear after a few hours.

"I think creep-I mean, Satoshi has trained a lot with his magic to the extent that he can perform spells. He cast a Wind Cage on me, so I think that explains the level of his power," Dark said neutrally, ignoring the amused look that passed over his mother's face. "Daisuke is also powerful-he broke the Wind Cage."

Lady Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?" she groaned. Now she had even more things to handle! As though he read her thoughts, Dark shook his head.

"I don't think Satoshi needs to be trained," he said. "He's either half healing or half Wind, or he's trained with his power so much that it's become extremely versatile. I'm inclined to think that it's the latter."

"What makes you think that?" His mother challenged him. Dark grinned, in spite of himself. He'd had to explain all the logic behind his assumptions to his mother every time he told her a fact, because she believed that it helped him to keep a firm grasp on the trail of his thoughts. In any case...

"Satoshi created a Wind Cage. You know just as well as I do that that is one of the most complicated spells to perform, and if he performed it quickly enough to trap me and correctly as well, then he has already surpassed the level that most people his age would be at right now."

Yuki nodded. "Fine, but I will still get one of the castle mages to test him. He's a potential Wind Weaver, is that right?" Dark nodded. "Daisuke is a...?"

"Fire Forger," Dark helpfully supplied. Lady Yuki nodded.

"Fine, Minako," Lady Yuki said, turning to the young blonde healer at the bedside table. "I want you to track down a Wind Weaver and a Fire Forger. Tell them that they are needed to test two boys for power levels. Tell the Fire Forger that he may have to train someone."

The healer nodded and swept out of the room, her orange robes billowing out from behind her. Yuki sighed. "She's a nice girl and she'll make a good healer, but she just needs to get her mind off boys."

Dark blinked. Of all the things to say...well, never mind. "You're going to test them then?" He asked.

"Of course," Lady Yuki replied, "They might prove to be useful if there is a battle, which there undoubtedly will be."

Dark nodded. "I see," he said softly. Then he grinned at his mother. "I guess I'll be seeing Daisuke then, since you don't seem to be too bad," he laughed. Inside though, Dark was incredibly worried. He knew that Daisuke didn't just contract headaches and then pass out for no reason at all, but since his mother was still recovering and she had so much to do that he decided against informing her of Daisuke's condition. Of course, one of the healers just had to burst in and tell him that Daisuke had a Poison Shard stuck inside his leg.

Lady Yuki being Lady Yuki, and therefore concerned for the wellbeing of all human beings (and other creatures, for that matter) immediately asked what had been done. The healer immediately answered that they had taken the Shard out and given it to the Mages for testing. The Shard was currently in the labs being analysed, but since the men had only started a few minutes ago it was unlikely that they would get any solid information until the next morning. Dark, on the other hand, rushed past the healer as soon as he heard that Daisuke's life was endangered (again) and crashed through the heavy oak door.

Satoshi shut the door quietly behind him. He'd seen the purple whirlwind (or baka as he privately called it) go past-not to mention that the wind had stirred right before the teenager had rushed past him. Sighing, the blue haired teen slowly walked towards the bed when the door crashed open and hit him. The Head of the Kitchens was immediately knocked to the floor and sat there, glaring at the purple whirlwind also known as Dark.

**Cavern: **

Krad slammed his fist into the hard rock, golden eyes darkened with fury. _D---! They found the poison! _Krad had hoped that no one would notice that Daisuke got headaches on a regular basis until the Shard had dissolved into the boy's blood beyond any hope of recovery. He slammed his fist into the wall again, not noticing the cracks that spread over the otherwise fairly smooth face. Ice began to creep over the grey stone, sinking into the cracks that now riddled it. Without warning, the whole cave began to rumble as the whole wall collapsed due to all the damage that it had taken. Krad looked up silently, face completely devoid of emotion as suddenly a huge shield made of ice shot up around him, shielding him from falling pieces of rock. The blond lord watched unblinkingly. _Soon, _he thought, _soon I will crush the Niwas, that interfering woman and her son. As for Satoshi...I think I'll make an example of him. Something to make the other servants think twice before rebelling. _When the noise stopped, Krad let his shield disappear, closed his eyes and recited the ancient words required to recall the Army of the Demons.

**Castle: **

Dark ignored the Wind Weaver sitting on the floor at his feet and dashed over to the bed. Daisuke pay on the bed, ruby eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling apparently lost in thought. The older boy immediately hugged him and buried his face in the soft red locks, revelling in their texture. Satoshi looked at the pair and concealed a slight smile. He picked himself up off the floor, and walked over to Daisuke and Dark. Polishing his glasses, the azure-eyed boy walked over and gently tapped Dark on the shoulder. The purple haired teen looked at him and silently glared, wishing that Satoshi would not keep ruining his and Daisuke's 'moments'. Just then, a violent shudder from the earth caused the whole castle to shake, and the sky turned red before reverting back to its original blue colour. The three boys were all thrown to the floor (Daisuke having been thrown out of the bed) and they sat there, completely stunned at what had just happened.

**Lady Yuki: **

Yuki stared horrified at the sky and grasped her bedpost, trying to steady herself as the ground continued to heave. _He did not...!_ The light-haired woman turned even paler as the sky turned blood red. _Krad, what have you done?! _

**Cavern: **

Krad stared silently at all the demons gathered in front of him. The spell had worked, and he was now in charge of a horde of bloodthirsty creatures. There were demons of every age and type; some were in the guise of humans toting large weapons that no ordinary human could carry, some were in their animal forms. Others chose to show their true faces. Ogres, werewolves, kitsunes, sorcerers, Possessed; they were all there. Krad silently went over his speech in his head again, knowing that they would soon crave blood, more specifically, a certain three..._persons' _blood. He knew that Yuki and the others up at the castle would have felt the earth shaking, but he highly doubted that anyone would know what it truly meant. This was, after all, one of those ancient, long-forgotten spells. Admittedly, the woman would have access to his library, but the book had been long lost. The golden-eyed lord recited the spell to himself silently, remembering the time he had first come across it in his library. His father had been a fool, dedicated to peace. Not very different, in fact, from Lady Yuki and those idiots who called themselves the High Council. Krad stepped up to the platform and spread a thin net of Softness over all the demons and dark beings present, making sure that nothing was left uncovered by his magic. Softness was a very ambiguous spell; you could use it for good purposes as well as bad, and it wasn't forbidden because it didn't actually do anything; it just made people more open to your suggestions. Most of the time it had been used by mothers who wanted to control their children if they got particularly rowdy, but there were other, more sinister uses for it too. Krad made sure that nothing was spared from the strands of magic and he began to speak as soon as the horde went silent.

"Demons, sorcerers, Possessed, all...what do you feel for humans?" Krad knew he sounded stupid asking this question, but he knew that it would immediately trigger the creatures' hatred for the human race. Loud roars, screeches and yells greeted him. The harsh noises reverberated around the place, dislodging a few bits of stone from the ceiling. Krad nodded silently, as though he were agreeing with the demons. "Yes; they are pathetic, weak beings, are they not?"

Agreement reached his ears. Krad waited until everything in the cave was silent, and then continued to encourage them, feeding their hatred for his like. "But do you know what?" he asked finally, his voice softened to add the effect of sharing a big secret with the lot. The demons all listened, riveted both by the spell and curiosity. "Not all humans are responsible for your being sealed into the earth's crust," Krad whispered. "In fact, only four of them are truly responsible, although many did encourage them to do so and even lent these four their power. They are a redhead, a blue-haired boy, a blond haired woman and a purple haired boy. They go by the names of Daisuke, Satoshi, Yuki and Dark respectively. And do you know what else?" The demons leaned forward, eager to find out where these four were and have their revenge. "They are in the castle above us!" Krad's voice rose to a shout and the flickering torches in the cave threw his face into stark relief, so that he looked like some angel with a terribly disfigured face. The demons shrieked with delight, their minds already filled with bloodlust. They danced around impatiently, only held to their places by the sheer force of Krad's will. "We march at dawn!" thundered Krad. Howls, yells, shrieks, screeches and evil sounds of every kind greeted this pronouncement, and Krad threw sleeping powder into the air and soon all the demons were asleep. The blonde lord turned around and left the cavern, satisfied. He would soon have his revenge. Outside, the dying sun turned the whole sky blood red.

**Hospital: **

Lady Yuki shouted orders for the army to gather, and for any able-bodied men to report to the army for a 'crash course' in fighting. The women and children she told to go up to the hospital wing to volunteer to clean or help in whatever way they could. Daisuke (now standing on his own two feet but with Satoshi hovering around him like a mother hen) and Dark all stared at the people, the men especially. Satoshi inwardly prayed for all of them; he had seen the terrors of war whilst wandering the land, before he had turned up at Krad's doorstep. Sometimes, he still wished he hadn't.

Dark, on the other hand, walked around the assembled men and soldiers, reassuring the younger ones and joking with the veterans. He joked with the men and kept their spirits high. Daisuke meanwhile played with the younger children upstairs in the Bay and kept up the women's spirits, occasionally stopping to chat with Takeshi, Risa or Riku. Daisuke could now look Risa in the face without blushing or losing his head; Dark had taken that post. Risa, however, was still getting over Dark and would occasionally look out of the window at the lord strolling about all the fighters and sigh wistfully. However, it was to her credit that she did not glare, backstab or even try to abuse Daisuke in any way. Instead, she congratulated the crimson-haired boy on his and Dark's relationship, and treated him more or less the same as she always had-as a close friend.

Daisuke pretended to blunder around the hospital room, asking loudly where all the little children were. Everyone laughed and even the healers smiled when the redhead asked them where one of the children was. The whole room was filled with laughter and merriment, and this was the comical scene Dark came in to.

Dark grinned as he saw his lover playing hide-and-seek with all the children. His unruly mop of red hair was ruffled and his shirt was slightly wrinkled, a testimony to his having crawled under several beds and squeezed behind cupboards. His flushed cheeks and sparkling red eyes only added to the cuteness that the boy in front of him possessed. Ignoring the smirks on Satoshi's and Takeshi's faces, the lord covered the distance between him and Daisuke in two long strides. Daisuke looked at him, his hands full of toys that he had picked up after the children had all run off to hide. Grabbing the smaller boy in his arms, Dark swept Daisuke off his feet and kissed him full on the mouth.

Daisuke could only dangle helplessly in mid air as Dark swept him up. He kissed back, cautiously at first. Of course, the other teen managed to reduce him to goo within a matter of seconds. The moment was broken by a child staring up at them, her big blue eyes wide and curious. She then turned to the nearest 'adult', a. k. a Satoshi (Takeshi having left a long time ago). "Why are those two boys kissing?" she asked, pointing at Dark and Daisuke who were still wrapped up in their own little world. Satoshi groaned and muttered under his breath about idiots who could not keep their hands to themselves in public.

The rest of the evening passed in a semblance of normality, except that some of the men were missing because they were on guard duty on the walls and grounds of the castle. Lady Yuki had also sent notices out throughout all of Krad's lands and communicated with the Lords about Krad's escape and what had happened. She only hoped that they understood the urgency of the situation and consented to send their combined armies. Yuki knew that if she had recognised the spell properly, it would take a lot more men than she currently had to win the battle.

Daisuke sat on the bed, smiling slightly at Dark's story. The amethyst-eyed lord was currently regaling him with a humorous story involving him, Lady Yuki and a pot of bright pink hair dye. The ruby-eyed boy laughed along with his lover and savoured the moment, just enjoying the company and the atmosphere of the room. Just as Dark had ended the story (and thus sent Daisuke rolling around the bed in laughter), Lady Yuki walked in, an amused smile playing around her lips. "Boys," she said softly. Both teenagers stopped laughing and looked at her. "I suggest you go to bed-we have a long day ahead of us," Yuki said. Although her voice bore no hint of fear, Dark could tell that his mother was worried about something. Daisuke nodded however, and was just about to leave the room to go back to his own (rather pitiful) sleeping quarters, when Dark caught his wrist.

"May I ask where you are going?" Dark said, his voice hinting at something. Daisuke frowned.

"To my room, of course," he replied. Dark shook his head.

"No you're not..." the purple-haired lord murmured softly. "No, you're not."

Daisuke's expression of bewilderment grew. "What...?"

"You're staying here...unless you want to go back?" Dark whispered, his eyes pleading with Daisuke not to go. Lady Yuki smiled to herself; they did make a perfect couple, just like what Satoshi and Riku had told her, albeit unwillingly (those two had been more reluctant to talk about Daisuke and Dark's relationship than Risa had, and that was saying something).

Daisuke nodded. "Okay...I'll stay," he whispered back gently. Dark smiled softly at him and once again Daisuke melted with that look. Yuki resisted the urge to burst out squealing like some immature teenage girl.

"Well," she said, clearing her throat, "I guess that you two will be sleeping soon then?" The pair pulled apart quickly and nodded. "All right then," the blonde lady laughed, "Just don't do anything..._naughty_," she dryly said. "Especially you, Dark," she added with a laugh. She gracefully swept out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.

"What about my friends though?" Daisuke asked uncertainly, "I should tell them that I'm sleeping with you..." He blushed profusely at those few words remembering Satoshi's 'speech'. Dark could not help but chuckle quietly at Daisuke's behaviour.

"It's all right; you can go down to the kitchens now and tell them that you're staying with me. Besides, I have to talk to Satoshi anyways."

The pair set off and soon they arrived at the kitchen. The servants were just preparing for bed and Takeshi was just dousing the fires as Dark and Daisuke entered. Immediately, the pair were surrounded by girls and Daisuke's friends alike, all of them wanting to congratulate the pair on their relationship. Dark basked in the limelight for a little while, but when he saw Risa and Riku heading over his protective half took over and he clutched Daisuke to him possessively. Then he noticed Satoshi and quickly walked over to the blue-haired boy, who hid a smile behind his hand as he saw Dark carrying Daisuke over bridal style. "Well?" the blue haired boy finally demanded, after he had gotten his emotions under control. "What is it?"

Daisuke pushed himself gently out of Dark's arms and landed on the floor. "Ne Satoshi, I'm gonna stay the night with Dark."

Satoshi raised one eyebrow elegantly. At this look, Daisuke immediately started fidgeting. Dark could not help but blurt out, "What? We're not going to do anything!"

Satoshi smirked, amused. "Did I say you were?"

Dark raised _his _eyebrow. "No, but the implication was quite clear."

"Ah. Well...in that case...were you _planning _on it?"

Daisuke flushed. "Of course not!" he indignantly protested.

The blue haired boy shrugged gracefully. "All right then...and Dark?" The purple haired lord jerked up as his name was mentioned. "If you do succeed, keep the noise level down will you please?" Both teenagers turned a lovely shade of red and hastily exited the kitchen.

**Cavern: **

Krad stared at the giant blade of his sword, his reflection slightly distorted by the curved surface. This was only a small part of the Niwa treasure though; it was the Oath Sword, given to him when he'd been forced to swear that cursed oath. It could still kill though...and if used properly it would wipe out a good number of soldiers in one swing (just like Inuyasha's Tessaiga lol). In another cavern lay the demons he'd summoned. They twisted and roared in their sleep, killing even in their dreams. The blond lord slowly shut his eyes and entered Plane 3: The Plane of Dreams. In this strange place, only accessible by means of sleep, you could meddle with someone's dreams if you had magic and if you didn't...well a weapon was still readily accessible. In this plane, you had the power to kill someone without their knowing it. In this plane, you had the ability to create disturbing dreams and scare someone witless-literally. Everyone had heard of Alwyn Taseka, who had gone to bed one night perfectly sane and woken up the next morning with no memory. In any case...Krad walked around in the dark emptiness, focussing on Daisuke in order to find his aura. He soon tracked the brat down and entered his dreams effortlessly. Krad slowly raised his hands in the darkness and advanced towards the golden light pulsing gently in the darkness-Daisuke's life force. Krad continued onwards, bent of crushing the light underneath his foot. Finally, he reached his destination. Lifting up his foot, he brought it down with a crushing force.

* * *

FWAHAHAHAHAHA!! Cliff hanger! Sorry people, I just couldn't resist that lovely temptation dangling right in front of me. Anyhow, thank you for everything guys, just bear with me. I won't say that this is the second last chapter...because this story seems to be growing a life of its own. Now my little munchkins, shoutout time! 

starsTruck272: Hey hey! Nice talking to you again, fellow anime-lover and fanfic freak lol. Anyhow, now you do know someone who writes yaoi...haha. Thanks for the reviews...and well well, you have the same bday as Daisuke! Whaddya know...? Anyways, I loved your Detective Conan fic, even though I've never watched it before. Thanks!

Myinuyasha04: Hi! Another one of my loyal reviewers, I see. Anyhow, thank you for all the support and reviews that you've given me through the course of this fanfic. Dai-chan gets a large break here...and then dances with death right at the end. Ouchie...lol.

Reeper Redeemer: Thanks for the review! Uh...btw as a word of advice...don't tell the author that you got lost halfway through the fic...lol. Just kidding! Glad you liked what you could read of it...(hehehe). Thank you!

Staryday: Yay! Another one of my loyal reviewers! Thank you so much for everything, I owe you big time! You have my undying gratitude now and forever, till the cows come home haha.

Word dreamer 999: Lol yes I know, they're almost perfect together, aren't they lol. Thanks for your opinion on the usage of other anime characters... thank you so much for the review!

KageKitsune16: Lol you'd better not be after Dark or else he'll probably treat you like Risa...lmao. Thank you so much for all the support and stuff that you've given me since goodness knows when. What did you mean by you want Satoshi anyway, I kinda don't get it. Thanks once again!


	10. 10a: The Final Battle

**Chapter 10a: The Final Battle**

Disclaimer: All right folks, let's get this over and done with. I do not own DN Angel, never have, and never will.

A/N: All right my little darlings (taken right from my History teacher's mouth), Auntie baka is going to read to you the story of two boys…--'. Whatever…thank you to everyone for their support. I'm almost done with this story, and this time it's no lie. Seriously. On with the story! Oh yes…the whole final battle turned out to be too long to write in one go so I'm posting it in two instalments…yeah.

* * *

Daisuke twisted slightly in his sleep as Krad entered his mind. However, he was too deeply embedded in sleep and just shifted his position on the bed slightly. However, when Krad brought his foot down on the tiny redhead's life force Daisuke shot up in bed, clutching at his throat and his eyes were wide with desperation, fear and panic. Next to him, Dark turned around sleepily. Amethyst eyes opened and in a flash, the lord was sitting up in bed and trying to help Daisuke. However, his actions were to no avail; Daisuke collapsed back on the bed. Dark rushed out of the room immediately, yelling for his mother and the healers as he went.

**Library: **

Lady Yuki squinted at the page of the book that she was currently trying to read. The writing was faded and messy, and the dim light of the candle that she had wasn't helping very much either. She was trying to find new spells to use in the inevitable battle, and this book was known to hold many powerful spells. Krad would have undoubtedly gone through this one, but it didn't hurt to know what your enemy had in his arsenal of attacks. Yuki suddenly heard shouting outside the door, and frowned. From what she could hear through the thick door, it seemed that someone had attacked Daisuke-this time in his dreams. She remembered the presence poking at her 'mind guards' and guessed that it had continued onto Daisuke when it found that she was protected.

**Healers' Bay: **

Dark crashed into the room, startling the sleepy Head of the Healers, Amara. She blinked at Daisuke lying in his arms a couple of times before the gravity of the situation hit her and she immediately began shouting orders for the emergency team. Five healers, all dressed in white robes which denoted their rank immediately appeared and gently took Daisuke from Dark, who was bordering on hysterics. The purple haired lord insisted on coming into the room and keeping an eye on Daisuke. The five people conferred together for a while, and then nodded and let Dark follow them.

**Daisuke: **

Daisuke stared in wonder at the green fields that surrounded him. He recognised them; they were the castle grounds in which he'd been born. His mother stood next to him, her brown eyes sparkling with laughter as they always had. "Daisuke," she said, smiling and cheerful as always, "I've missed you so much!"

"M-m-mother?" he asked, not quite believing his eyes.

She nodded. "Of course. Silly boy, who did you think it would be, your grandfather?"

"I thought you died…"

"Well…yes I did…it's just that I came to visit you. I've been watching you grow up. You've changed so much…" Emiko trailed off. Daisuke frowned inwardly; he didn't remember his mother being serious. He remembered her being playful and always smiling.

"You've changed too, Mother," he whispered softly. Emiko turned to look at him.

"Yes…well, I suppose it's because you've grown up. I'm talking to you normally now, because I think you've grown up enough not to need to listen to baby talk anymore, hm Dai-chan?" At these last few words, the brown-haired lady smiled at her son and again Daisuke could see some of his 'old' mother shining through.

The redhead laughed out loud. Emiko laughed along with him. "I have to go soon, Daisuke," she said softly. Daisuke looked at her, and then ran towards his mother. They both hugged each other and Daisuke sniffled a little bit, overcome by all his emotions. "Shh…I'll never let you go…" Emiko held Daisuke close to her. Daisuke began to cry softly into his mother's dress, soaking the silk with his tears (hey, you would cry too if your mother died when you were little more than a baby and you only got to see her for a few minutes!). Emiko hugged her son tightly, making him cry even harder at the thought of leaving. "Don't worry…I'll never leave you…again…" Daisuke slowly fell asleep, having used up so much energy and exhausted from the overload of emotions.

**Healers' Bay: **

"S---!" A healer cursed violently as the colour slowly left Daisuke's cheeks. "Mara, get the others ready, he's gone into a coma!"

Dark's eyes shot open in horror. "What do you mean, he's gone into a coma?!" The older, more experienced healers ignored him; they couldn't afford to waste time answering questions, even if they were from a lord. Luckily for them, Dark understood that he would have to remain quiet, no matter how anxious he was. Around him, healers rushed frantically back and forth, some holding herbs and others salts to try to revive the unconscious boy.

"He's slipping away!" One of the healers who had stayed behind to keep an eye on Daisuke shouted urgently. "Quickly quickly, before he completely slips away!"

Luckily for them, they weren't too late. With the help of two of the most powerful healers in the whole castle, the team managed to get Daisuke awake and conscious again. However, as soon as he opened his crimson eyes, tears poured out of them. "Mother!" he sobbed. "Mother…"

Dark rushed to Daisuke's side and hugged him, trying to comfort the sobbing boy. "Daisuke…shh…it's ok…" Dark hugged and comforted the other teen as much as he could. The diminutive redhead whimpered quietly, his sobs dying down as he realised who it was holding him. Meanwhile, the healers (all assured that Dark would probably help more than all of them could) exited the room quietly, leaving the amethyst-eyed teen to look comfort Daisuke.

After Dark had finally managed to coax the entire story out of Daisuke, he gently hugged the younger teen and they stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the closeness of each other. Suddenly, a roar filled the air and the two boys whirled around to see the sun coming up and a horde of demons descending onto the grounds.

**Krad: **

Krad looked at the rest of the demons in the caverns. He had unleashed the first wave a few moments ago, but knowing their speed they would probably have already reached the castle grounds. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too much destroyed when he showed up. Turning once more to the crowd of demons, he unleashed a second wave of them onto the castle.

**Castle Hikari: **

Lady Yuki stared in horror as she recognised the lady with long, flowing dark blue hair standing at the castle doors. The last time she had met this woman, she had almost taken Dark's life when he was seven. Dark still remembered that incident; he'd escaped with a large scar that ran down his back and a head full of things that someone his age shouldn't know (all right you hentais, both good and bad things…--'). The woman had been sealed up during that battle, but apparently someone had broken it. The woman-or Possessed, rather, also seemed to remember Lady Yuki. Lifting up one pale hand, she faced the noble in the face and smiled coldly. "Long time no see, eh?"

Yuki clenched her hands. "Mienda," she said quietly.

"Heh, I see you still remember me then," the woman remarked. Her dark eyes were like chips of black marble, set in a pale face. One white hand rested lightly on the huge wooden gate. Yuki could already see the power sparking from the other woman; she was preparing to ram down the gates. "So," the Possessed asked casually, "how's Dark?"

Yuki glared. "Better than you, that's for sure," Her son was rubbing off on her-a few years back, and she wouldn't have even thought of a smart remark to throw. Mienda ignored the comment and instead focussed on the door. Suddenly, a loud screech rent the air and the horde of demons descended on the castle as the gate was smashed. Yuki screamed in horror as a large wolf demon leapt at her, snarling.

**Healers' Bay: **

Dark heard his mother's scream of terror and rushed towards the castle walls, knowing that she was there. To his horror, he arrived just in time to see the wolf demon land on his mother, its unholy red eyes burning with flames. The purple haired lord immediately formed a large energy ball in his hand and threw it at the demon. Luckily for him, the energy ball connected with the monster and Lady Yuki fell to the floor, her hand pressed to the large gash that the wolf had inflicted on her. Blood seeped out of the wound and Yuki grimaced, her white robes stained with red. "Mother!" Dark rushed towards the fallen woman on the ground.

"I'm fine Dark," Yuki managed to gasp out. "Just…wait…" suddenly, a bright white light began to glow around her and she closed her eyes. The light pooled around the gash in her side and the wound closed itself. Dark grinned to himself; white magic was often like a living creature-it cared for you. Yuki slowly rose to her feet and looked down at the grounds, horror written in her light blue eyes. Dark looked over the walls and stared in horror. The courtyard was a picture of utter chaos and terror. People screamed and yelled, carts were overturned, the gardens were black and charred and worst of all, dead bodies littered the ground. Demons of every shape and size wrecked the castle, tearing stones out of the walls and destroying the castle. Luckily, all the women and children were in the Healers' Bay, which was a protected area. This meant that a shield had been made around the area so that demons wouldn't be able to sense it (and therefore destroy it). Just then, the alarm bell began to ring and soldiers poured out of the now broken gates. Without a further thought, Dark leapt off the walls and landed in front of the army. With his trademark smirk, he led the men into the first wave of demons.

**Krad: **

Krad rolled his eyes as he watched the makeshift army fight against his demons. They were doing quite well, for such a bunch of weaklings, he noted. However…these were only the weaker demons. They weren't _meant _to last against humans for longer than two minutes. _Oh well, _he thought to himself, _I'll be coming for you soon, Dark. Daisuke and Yuki can wait…_With those thoughts, he stood up, stretched lazily and prepared to enter the scene.

**Castle: **

Satoshi stared out the window in shock, looking at the chaos in the courtyard. Most of the demons were dead or seriously wounded, but he had a sinking feeling that they too had lost men. He closed his blue eyes and prayed hard. Then he thought of Dark, fighting down there alongside the other men that Lady Yuki had managed to round up. _Dark, if you get killed, I swear that I will find some way to resurrect to and then kill you again…and again…and again…and…_Satoshi growled. His 'evil' half had just taken over. –Shut up-.

Daisuke looked over at the window and his ruby eyes widened in shock and fear. _Dark…_he hoped that his lover would not get killed or injured in any way.

**Courtyard: **

Dark slashed at another demon with his sword and whirled around just in time to see a giant snake creeping up behind one of the younger boys. The purple haired teen immediately leapt forward slashed at the creature, the boy beneath him still dealing with another demon. The boy stared in amazement as Dark performed a graceful back flip in mid-air and landed lightly on his feet, just in time to stab another demon with his sword. He winked at the youngster and said, "Can't have the snake getting you now, can we?" The younger teen was left to gawk at Dark as he returned to the fray.

**Healers' Bay **

Daisuke trembled as he saw the carnage on the courtyard. He was so afraid and shocked that he could only stand at the window, shaking and whimpering until Satoshi came over and gently guided him back into bed. The blue haired boy gently soothed his best friend. "Shh…don't worry Daisuke, don't worry, Dark's all right…" Daisuke shook his head, tears in the large crimson eyes.

"It's not Dark," the redhead sobbed out. "It's all the other people I'm worried about! Are they going to make it through?" Satoshi could only look at Daisuke and then bow his head, as though to say that he couldn't make any promises either. Suddenly, a loud cheer rose from below and the two boys rushed towards the window in the room, hope filling their hearts.

**Courtyard: **

Yusuke yelled in delight as the last demon fell to the ground, dead. "We did it!" he shouted jubilantly. "We did it!" The rest of the soldiers that were either not too tired or just too quiet raised a ragged cheer. Dark just turned around and let his eyes scan the whole battleground, looking for any dead bodies that might have once been one of his men. He noticed with a strong feeling of relief that no one was dead-the only corpses were those of the demons'. He grinned at all the men.

"All right guys," Dark said, "Congratulations. It looks like we've won the battle. Back to the Healers' Bay now, come on…" the men slowly turned their backs on the gaping entrance and walked slowly back into the castle. Just then, a loud roar filled the air and the army turned around. To their shock and dismay, Krad landed onto the ground first, followed by another horde of much more powerful demons.

"So, Dark," Krad murmured mockingly, "We meet again."

"Indeed," Dark replied, his voice neutral. Then his tone of voice changed and sparks of fury seemed to fly from his eyes. "What do you want, Krad?" The amethyst eyes teen spat the name out with disgust, not even bothering to add an honorific.

"Now, now," Krad chided mockingly, "Is that any way to treat your elders, boy?" The insult was clear and Dark stiffened slightly. "Now," the blonde lord continued, his golden eyes hardening to chips of ice, "I know that you and your army are both tired and badly injured, so…I'll make you a deal. You give me back my castle and lands, along with everything that you and your…_mother _own and I'll leave you alone."

Dark snorted in derision. "Really now Krad. I'm not an idiot, and anyone could tell you that it's an unfair bargain."

"As you wish," the blonde replied with an indifferent shrug. He then charged forward, unsheathing his sword in one swift move. The metal made a cold hissing sound as it slid easily out of its sheath and Dark mirrored the action.

Krad smiled coldly at the amethyst eyed boy in front of him He was bold, but foolish. _You won't live for long Dark Mousy. I promise. _He grinned and unfurled his white wings, hurtling forward to meet the younger lord with an almighty crash. Purple and gold collided and swords flashed, the rays of the rising sun glinting off the blades. Krad snarled and struck downwards, placing all his strength behind the blow. Dark just barely blocked it and the two stared at each other, caught for a moment in a deadlock. The dark teen growled and lashed out with a foot, intending to kick his opponent. Krad snorted and dodged the blow, lashing out with his other hand. It turned out that he had made an ergy ball with his free hand and Dark went flying into the wall, landing with a crash.

**Healers' Bay: **

Daisuke and Satoshi both stared out the window, horrified by the battle. What had originally seemed to be a small victory had turned into another fight, except that this time only one noble would come out alive. Finally, the tiny redhead could take it no longer. When he saw Dark get hurled across the length of the courtyard, Daisuke screamed and suddenly was surrounded by fire. Satoshi covered his eyes and could do nothing but back away due to the blinding light and searing heat. When it finally stopped the Wind Weaver stared at the spot where Daisuke had been. He gulped and then looked out of the window again to the scene below. To his immense shock and horror, a giant flame appeared and Daisuke was in the courtyard. _There really is only one thing to do, _thought Satoshi wryly. "Air Platform!" he shouted and jumped onto the wind cushion that appeared in front of him.

**Courtyard: **

Yuki could only watch silently as Krad and her son battled it out. Krad's golden eyes suddenly widened as a slash from Dark's sword caught his unprotected chest. Crimson stained the once white robes, slowly spreading. Krad growled. "You're going to wish you'd never been born, boy," he snarled, angelic features twisted into a mask of hatred and fury.

Dark smirked. "Bit late for that now, isn't it," he airily retorted.

Both men were suddenly distracted by Daisuke appearing in the courtyard, right between the pair of them. Dark's violet eyes widened and then he rushed forward, knowing that once Krad recovered he would definitely try to kill his nephew. Two seconds later, a gust of wind blew through the whole place and Satoshi appeared, sitting on his Air Platform. "Krad!" the blue-haired boy shouted. "Leave Daisuke alone!"

Krad raised one elegant eyebrow, but ignored the other teen. _A minor annoyance, _Krad thought to himself. "Daisuke," he said smoothly. The redhead flinched slightly, but somehow managed to look him in the eye. "You've grown a spine, boy," Krad continued. He ignored Dark, Yuki and Satoshi, his attention now riveted on the redhead in front of him. "I wonder…" Krad tapped his chin, golden eyes mocking. "are you up to fighting me?"

Gasps came from all around and Riku could only stand in shock. Surely Daisuke wouldn't take the bait? He couldn't! To everyone's horror, Daisuke accepted the challenge. Satoshi sat paralysed and in shock for half a minute, and then quickly jumped off the platform of spinning air. "Daisuke, you can't!" he shouted. His reputation be damned, he wasn't going to let Daisuke die if he had any say in the matter! Dark also jumped forward and grabbed Daisuke, whispering something into his lover's ear, no doubt trying to convince the teen to change his mind. Krad smirked.

"What's the matter, Dark? Afraid of losing your toy?" The last word was said with a sneer and Krad moved forward, as though to attack the redhead.

"You can't Daisuke!" Dark was close to tears now. He was so scared of losing the one he loved. "Please, listen to me! You can't fight Krad, he's too..!" Just then, he felt something tugging at him. Whipping around, Dark felt small tendrils of wind tugging at his clothes. He immediately turned his gaze to Satoshi and glared at the Head of the Kitchens after realising that he was the source of the miniature breezes. The boy shook his head and jerked his chin towards Daisuke, indicating that he (Satoshi) would handle Krad. Dark shook his head so vigorously that his long purple bangs flew from side to side.

Satoshi suddenly stood up, making the first sign of open movement. He stepped gracefully off the wind cushion and it disappeared. The blue-haired Wind Weaver silently stepped in front of his former master and opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by Dark. "I'll fight you Krad!" Dark glared at the lord after shouting his declaration. "One-on-one."

Krad nodded coldly. He really didn't care, so long as he got his revenge. Besides, he had to think of a way to make Lady Yuki and her bastard son pay. "So be it," the icy lord replied. His voice was calm, but his eyes glinted with a maniacal light.

Meanwhile, Satoshi had managed to grab Daisuke and was currently trying to get the boy to stay. Daisuke, on the other hand, was trying to run towards his lover. Satoshi felt himself getting a little weak-Daisuke's stamina had always been better than his. Finally, he used a small breeze to tie the redhead up and let go. He still felt slightly guilty, but he squashed his conscience mercilessly. _It'll all be for the best, _he told his other half firmly. _It won't hurt Daisuke…at least, hopefully not. _

Dark and Krad circled each other, both of them waiting for the other to make a move first. Krad smirked and idly shifted his grip on the giant broadsword. Suddenly, he lunged forward. He wanted to get this over and done with. Besides, Dark was no match for him in skill. The ice lord brought his weapon down, only to be countered by Dark's move. The next thing he knew, he was flying backwards and it was his turn to hit the wall. Luckily (or unluckily, if you're rooting for the good guys), Krad managed to make a sort of ice shield that weakened the impact slightly. He stood up silently and then moved one hand in a movement that most had never seen before. However, Dark was ready for the spell-and only just managed to throw up a sparkling purple shield to save himself from a curse.

Dark growled and launched himself at Krad, hoping to catch him whilst he was still trying to regain his balance. Unfortunately, he'd underestimated Krad's speed and the blond managed to slice the darker one right across his shoulder before he could retreat.

The two battled it out for a while, both preferring not to use their magic. Finally, Krad threw a torrent of fireballs at Dark and the younger lord was badly burned. He sank to the ground, breathing hard and clutching his sword arm. –He burned me!- thought Dark to himself. _No duh, _Evil Dark retorted. _Now, haul your butt off the ground unless you want to see everything and everyone that you've met and liked die! _With a primal roar, Dark sprang up from the ground and brought his hand back, preparing to unleash a giant Water Dragon. "Dragon of the Waves!" Dark shouted, and a giant blue dragon shot out of the palm of his hand. It headed for Krad, who merely waved a hand and the creature was consumed by earth.

"Bad move," the other man remarked coldly. "Don't forget brat, you and your mother are going to die anyway, why are you putting up such a fight?"

"Because I can," Dark retorted.

Daisuke watched the whole match and had stayed still and silent, although Satoshi noticed that his eyes never left Dark's figure. At times he had felt his best friend stiffen a little, whenever Dark got hurt. Satoshi, however, sensed that Dark would win, no matter how beaten up he was. He may have been younger and less experienced than Krad, but Satoshi had a feeling that something to would turn the tide in Dark's favour. At least, he hoped so.

Suddenly, Krad lashed out with his sword. Dark jumped to the side, but felt searing hot pain burn through him as he realised that Krad had turned his sword into a whip made out of pure lightning. As a result, the purple haired teen crashed to the ground, trying hard not to yell out loud.

-That hurt!-

_No, really?_

-Shut up-!

Dark furiously struggled with his evil inner half, trying to overcome the pain at the same time. Daisuke couldn't take it any longer and he cried out loud. At the same time, fire engulfed the bonds of wind that held him and Satoshi was forced to step away from the heat. He knew that there was no point in reinforcing the wind-it would only be overcome by Daisuke's fire. At the same time, fire engulfed Dark and the lord blinked. He felt the flames gently caressing his wounds, as though they were trying to heal him. To his even greater surprise, he felt all the pains go away, and as he watched stunned, the burn on his leg slowly faded away to be replaced by new skin. –Thank you, Daisuke, - he thought.

The flames flickered out of existence and to Dark's horror, he saw Daisuke suspended in mid air, held up by Krad's Ice Tunnel. The redhead was trying desperately to free himself; that much Dark could tell. However, he could also see that Daisuke's power had not yet reached its full potential and it was still no match for the blonde's. Dark suddenly saw red as he saw Krad swing his large blade up and towards the fragile teen.

Krad smiled. He was finally going to be able to cast off the last remaining shred of his ties to the Niwa family. He savoured the moment, enjoying the look of abject terror on Daisuke's face as he realised that he was going to die.

Daisuke tried hard to breathe properly. The Ice Tunnel was slowly squeezing his body and it was so cold! _So…cold…can't breathe…_Daisuke tried to stare at Krad with all the hatred he could muster, but the ice made him numb, unable to think. A loud roar suddenly reached his ears, but it only registered faintly in the back of his mind.

Dark roared with fury as Krad moved. He leapt forward without thinking and somehow managed to hurl a fireball at the sword. It hit the metal and Krad smiled as he batted the fire back. Dark managed to dodge, but the fireball just turned in mid-air and headed straight for him again. However, the younger lord was not deterred by this and forced himself to move forward, avoiding all the fireballs very deftly. He reached the giant icicle that had Daisuke trapped in its centre and with a loud roar, Dark smashed his now glowing fist into the ice. It cracked a little, but did not shatter. With another yell, Dark rammed his fist into the icicle and this time, he kept it there. Flames suddenly shot out of his hand and spread through the icicle, slowly turning it into water. However, this forced him to concentrate solely on destroying the icicle and Krad seized this opportunity to run Dark through. The teen cried out and Daisuke (who by now had managed to escape) screamed. From somewhere deep inside himself, Daisuke managed to create a Fire Dragon.

"Fire Dragon!" The desperate redhead screamed. At exactly the same time, Satoshi yelled, "Wind Dragon!" Everyone stared in awe at the two element dragons that blossomed out of their respective commanders' hands. Satoshi didn't stop to gape at Daisuke's dragon though; he followed up with a Wind Cage, aiming it at Krad. The blonde lord sidestepped the latter wind attack, but caught the full blast of power from both dragons. Dark lay on the floor some distance from the battle and coughed weakly. Summoning up the last ounce of energy that he had, the purple haired lord whispered, "Earth Dragon," before collapsing.

Lady Yuki could only stare in horror as her son shuddered and then lay on the floor. A giant green dragon hovered over him for a moment and then flew towards Krad, its mouth opening to release a powerful blast of earth energy.

Krad growled and forced himself to stand up, although he swayed a little as he tried to. Reaching into his robes, he pulled out a card which Yuki, Satoshi and Daisuke could see shimmered with power. Krad hurled the card at the three of them, shouting hoarsely. None of them could understand the words, but instinct told them to shield. Satoshi managed to throw up a shield around him and Daisuke just in time to deflect Krad's Power Card. The two boys huddled together, watching as the waves of lava gushed over the shield. Lady Yuki, on the other hand, had decided to save her energy and had simply gotten out of the card's attack range. Krad glared angrily at all of them, raising one hand.

Without warning, bolts of lightning fell from the sky and landed on the ground, some of them dangerously near the crowd. They all moved backwards quickly, trying to avoid the lethal streaks of light as they fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Satoshi and Daisuke huddled underneath the barrier of wind that the slightly older boy had created and tried to wait out the barrage of attacks.

Krad stopped his barrage of attacks and silently eyed the shield which sparkled over the two boys. He then looked up and saw Lady Yuki approaching him, her blue eyes full of hatred and anger now. Before anyone else knew what was happening, Yuki raised both hands and uttered one word: _Fatali. _

Behind the shield, Satoshi gasped. He had heard of this spell, and the devastating effects that it had, one of which was a nasty rebound. The caster of this specific spell would most likely die along with the person which it was aimed at. Both of them would suffer the same amount of pain as they died, so it was only used by desperate people who often had nothing to lose anyway.

Dark stared in horror at his mother, wishing that he could get up. Unfortunately, the wound in his middle from where Krad had stabbed him was taking a toll on him and the loss of blood as well as his summoning of the Earth Dragon. Yuki raised her hands and looked straight at Krad, her blue eyes as cold as the ice that the blond commanded. Krad, on the other hand, was snarling angrily. "Fool!" he cried. "If I die, you're dying with me!" Right on cue, he began to cough and choke hard. Blood shot out of his mouth to land on the stone floor and Krad doubled over in agony. Lady Yuki, on the other hand, stood there motionless, as though she was not touched by any of the pains that were assaulting Krad.

The blond ice lord fell to the ground writhing and screaming in sheer agony, his eyes glazed over with pain. As though someone had suddenly healed him though, he slowly raised himself off the ground and began to laugh. His laughter held no mirth though; it was the laugh of a man totally gone insane. Satoshi paled and Yuki trembled. The same thought was on everyone's minds: _What had gone wrong? _

* * *

Cliffhanger! Sorry but I couldn't update for so long because school keeps me really busy and all…grr…also I had to attend my friend's funeral…sorry. Shoutouts:

Staryday: Thank you so much for sticking by this little story all the way through, I owe you big-time! I'm glad you approve of some of my more…random ideas. Luv yaz! And…another cliffhanger to torture you with lol.

Shatterednight: Thanks for the review, I really appreciated it, I mean it with all my heart lmao. I gave you half the battle and what happens to Dai-change, hope that satisfies you for now!

Last of all but not least: Aileen. I never knew you that well, but I hope that you'll find peace and a place free from trouble. Rest in peace, and God be with you always Aileen. I'll never forget you.

REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVIEWS! Please...?


	11. 10b: The Final Battle

**Chapter 10b: The Final Battle: **

Disclaimer: I don't own DN Angel, if you want it talk to Yukiru Sugisaki.

A/N: I am so sorry I keep telling you guys that my story is finishing and I never finish it when I say so…so I won't say anything. On with the story!

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_What had gone wrong? _Yuki could only stare in horror as Krad continued to laugh insanely, as though he had completely lost his mind. Suddenly, he looked straight at the whole crowd and his golden eyes shone menacingly. "What a waste," the lord sneered as he saw Lady Yuki fall to the ground, clutching her side. The previous wound that she had taken had re-opened itself and the effects of the curse were turning into a deadly combination. Dark still lay by the wall, completely helpless and forced to watch his mother as she slowly broke down. Daisuke could take the torture no longer-Krad had beaten and abused him and his friends for 17 years, and he couldn't take it any longer. "KRAADDDD!" The redhead's voice, hoarsened by anger and pain cut through the air.

Fireballs rained down from the sky, all of them focused on the blond lord. He pushed up a shield and smirked at Daisuke, silently daring him to break it. By now, Daisuke was so angry that he could barely think of anything other than killing Krad. Without missing a beat, the redhead changed his tactics. The fireballs suddenly stopped, and Daisuke eyed the shield thoughtfully, like a child would eye the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Without warning, streaks of fire raced over the shield that Krad had created and the older man gasped as he felt the searing heat seep through the now useless shield.

That wasn't all though; fire blossomed from the ground, right underneath the ice lord, forcing him to move hastily away from the searing heat. A large wall of fire suddenly surrounded the man, effectively cutting off everything-including oxygen. The blond lord panted for a while, but his expression soon changed to that of horror and shock as he realised that he would not be able to survive inside the fire cocoon for very long. Dizziness and nausea overcame him and he passed out onto the ground.

Daisuke trembled from the effort of trapping Krad for such a large amount of time. Finally, he could take the strain no longer and was forced to release the walls from around Krad. The blonde lay on the ground, apparently unconscious. Daisuke stared at the body unseeingly, red eyes glazed over and then fell backwards.

Satoshi barely managed to catch Daisuke as he fell backwards, the younger teen's body landing in his arms. His blue eyes still fixed on the blonde lord, Satoshi took a deep breath. "Dragon of the Sky!" A giant white dragon suddenly crashed down from heaven and stared at Krad, its large silver eyes unblinking. It then attacked the ice lord and with a burst of blinding white light, both Krad and the dragon were gone. Satoshi stared at the crowd silently, his analytical mind processing what would have to be done. He staggered over to the crowd, forcing himself to stay awake. _Wait until Daisuke, Dark and Yuki are in the Bay, _he told himself repeatedly. _Wait till they're in good hands, and then you can pass out._ Riku and the rest of the kitchen staff rushed forward, all of them eager to help and shaken from the fight that they had just witnessed. The younger ones, like the five-year olds, stared at Satoshi in awe, their big innocent eyes as round as saucers. Without warning, the giant Sky Dragon that the teenager had summoned re-appeared, its silver eyes fierce. It looked at the crowd and then at Satoshi. A voice blasted into the blue-haired boy's senses, although not by his ears. It sounded in his mind, like the creature was talking to him telepathically. Is there anything else you need?

"WHAT?!" Satoshi was shocked and amazed at this occurrence. "You can talk?!"

Of course I can. There's no need to yell so loud! Evidently, the dragon had a bit of a temper. And judging from the looks of you and those people over there, you're in serious need of help kid. Satoshi glared at the dragon, despite the predicament he was in.

"I'm no kid," he dryly remarked.

Yeah, whatever you say, came the calm reply. Now do you want me to help you or not?

"What makes you think that I'd trust your advice?"

Well, the dragon replied, its voice drawling slightly, There is the fact that I brought that blonde to the Sun Castle for you, and there is the fact that I haven't killed anyone yet…

"All right, all right." Satoshi was still a little wary of the creature that he had summoned, but it didn't seem like he had any other choice. Besides, apart from a sardonic attitude much like his own, the thing didn't seem to be the type to kill someone just for the fun of it.

You could be a little nicer, the dragon looked at Satoshi. The blue haired boy narrowed his eyes and examined the look on its face. If he hadn't known better, he would have said that the thing was _pouting_. Forcing himself back to the present, Satoshi suddenly remembered the hellish army that Krad had summoned. It was just as well that he did, because at that moment, the demons chose to start attacking again. It was true that the disappearance of their leader had shaken them, but these guys would not stop until their bloodlust was satisfied.

Satoshi yelled for everyone who was not capable of fighting to run for the castle. To his surprise, all the soldiers stayed on the field. He saw Heero, forcing himself to stand up even though he had taken numerous slashes and burns. Kuwabara was staggering towards his captain, dragging an exhausted Yusuke behind him. The soldiers forced themselves to regroup, knowing that they were safer in a large group than just by themselves. A giant, fire-breathing snakelike creature descended upon the remnants of the army and killed most of the archers in one fell swoop. The silver dragon eyed the worm for a moment and then flew up into the air once more, attacking the creature with its teeth. The worm screeched and fell from the sky, bleeding in forty different places.

Hm, do you need help here? Satoshi rolled his eyes.

"Do you have to ask?"

Just wondering, the dragon retorted. Don't worry. I'll take care of these guys. You and the others just go upstairs, okay?

"You sure?" Satoshi was worried about the dragon; he couldn't believe that he was already concerned for the welfare of a creature that he had summoned. The dragon nodded.

Nothing I can't handle. Now go, before you and your little friends become toast.

"What about him? And her?" Satoshi pointed towards Dark and Yuki, both of whom were lying unconscious. "We can't just leave them lying there!"

Heero and Trowa both moved forward. "We'll take them," the two boys volunteered, despite their wounds. Satoshi frowned. "Just take Daisuke and go," Heero said, his voice calm as ever. "We won't let Dark or Lady Yuki die. We'll come after you, okay?" Satoshi looked at the pair for a moment, deliberating. He finally nodded, and then summoned not one, but _two _Air Platforms.

"If I'm going, you're going," he said with a small smirk at the two men. "Hop on."

The four of them flew up to the Healer's Tower, towards the window that was now their only hope of saving Dark, Yuki and Daisuke.

Meanwhile, the battle raged on. Duo, Heero's second in command, now instructed the group of remaining soldiers on how to fight. The silver dragon ignored the small ragged army, however, and threw itself against the demon horde. Roaring with fury, the majestic creature spread its wings and blasted a cold, icy wind at the horde, freezing the front lines to death and slowing the slower ones down even more. A Possessed sorcerer shrieked with fury and threw an Earth attack at the Sky Dragon, but it was too weak and the dragon clucked in disapproval. Tut tut, Possessed. Didn't you learn in your younger days not to play with higher level dragons? A gust of wind, and she was gone.

Duo and the others engaged in close combat, taking out the demons who had managed to sneak past Satoshi's dragon. The giant silver creature soon got bored of toying with the horde, however, and roared. Tornado of Oblivion! A giant tornado swept the horde away, and the dragon continued. Sealing Winds!

A hum filled the air and grew in volume and pitch until it was too high for anyone to hear, except for maybe the castle animals (who had better hearing than the humans). The earth quaked, and then there was silence. However, the demons were gone, sealed away hopefully for a long time. The soldiers stared in awe at the dragon, which now landed on the ground in front of them. Duo gulped inwardly as a giant, silver eye came closer to inspect him. It's over. Duo felt a soothing presence in his mind, comforting him. Judging from the looks on his friends' faces, he had a feeling that he wasn't the only one being comforted. A bright white light shimmered around the weary and wounded men, and they knew nothing more.

**Healers' Bay (Dark's Room): **

Dark opened his purple eyes slowly, trying to remember where he was and what had happened. The events of the last few hours came crashing down on him, and he immediately began trying to stand up in order to find his mother and Daisuke, and make sure that they were all right. His plans were thwarted however, as he felt a stabbing pain shoot through his whole body and he collapsed back on the bed. A tall healer came in through the door, his blue robes billowing out behind him. "Lord Dark," the healer reprimanded him. "You shouldn't try to get up at the moment. You're still very weak, and badly injured." Dark frowned but didn't try anymore.

"Are my mother and Daisuke all right?" The healer blinked, caught off guard for a moment, and then he looked at Dark seriously. "Lord Dark, you have to promise not to yell," he said seriously.

_What?! The nerve of this man! _Evil Dark ranted. Dark, however, shut the little voice out of his mind and said politely, "Is it very bad?"

The healer nodded and then looked at the floor. "Lady Yuki…Lady Yuki is dead, Lord Dark."

Dark stared in horror at the man. Surely he was joking…his mother couldn't die; she always said that if she died, it would be in bed and not on a battlefield. Surely…Dark placed both his hands on his head and rubbed his temples. "She's…dead?"

The healer solemnly nodded. "She died just this morning, Lord Dark."

"Don't lord me," Dark said absentmindedly, his brain still trying to process the fact that his mother was dead. Whilst he sat in silence, the healer left. Then…"NO!" Dark angrily punched the pillow. –She's not dead…she can't be dead, she's too strong to die!- The purple haired teen felt his eyes stinging, and he suddenly couldn't see properly. Rubbing his eyes, he stared at the glistening streaks of water across his hand. –I'm…crying?- Amethyst eyes stared at the quickly drying water, grief and pain written in them. "Mother…" he whispered. Memories of her laughing, her playing with him when he was a child, memories of her teaching him how to bake bread…-She can't be dead,- the boy whispered.

**In the kitchens: **

Satoshi kept an eye on Amaya. He stared at the soup although his mind wasn't really concentrated on the food. Instead, his thoughts were with Dark and Daisuke. The healers had said that Daisuke would get better with time and that all he needed was some rest and food, but they hadn't said anything about Lady Yuki and Dark. _Stupid healers, _Satoshi thought to himself. _They act all humble and normal around the nobles, but once they're gone they become arrogant and snobbish. _Of course, there were exceptions to this, such as Maya, but…well, the majority still bordered on arrogant, if not downright snobbish. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Satoshi barely managed to dodge getting splashed by soup as the trainee cook accidentally dropped a particularly large lump of potato into the giant pot that she was stirring. "If you insist on throwing things like that, Amaya, you should not be here at all." Satoshi smoothly said. The girl flushed a dark shade of red and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a sorry. The blue-eyed boy sighed inwardly and decided to head upstairs to the hospital. Since he'd summoned that dragon, everyone in the whole castle had been treating him like he was their leader. Speaking of the dragon…

Boo. Satoshi sighed again and looked around for any sight of the creature. It had flatly refused to go back to…well, wherever he had summoned it from. It had told him that life in the human plane was a lot more interesting than the sky, and despite all of Satoshi's attempts to explain that battles only happened every now and then, the dragon still refused to leave. The blue-haired boy groaned out loud and turned around to the dragon, greeting it silently. He had gotten the hang of telepathy after a while, although it was still quite scary to think about 'it' and suddenly find himself nose-to-nose with the animal.

Shu.

Good afternoon to you to, kid. Where you going?

To see my friends.

Ah. The dragon rolled its expressive silver eyes, scales iridescent with the sunlight that poured in through the window. Can I come?

Just then, Risa came out of the kitchens and she squealed with delight at seeing Satoshi. Since Dark was in the Healers' Bay, she couldn't talk to him, and her 'new crush' became Satoshi, much to the bluenette's chagrin. His dragon seemed to find this most amusing, and Satoshi ground his teeth together as she latched onto him and the dragon's laughter sounded in his head.

Risa hugged Satoshi hard, burying her face in his chest. "Sato-kun!" she chirped happily. Her brown eyes stared up at the Head of the Kitchens, sparkling with hope. "I baked some cookies for you, but they're in the kitchen. Come with me please?" Satoshi looked at the shorter girl, suppressing a sigh. He meant to nod, he really did, but…well, somehow he ended up in the kitchen again, this time with Risa on his arm.

"Here!" The girl shoved a tray of blue…things…into his hands. Behind them, Satoshi could still hear the dragon cackling away. Finally, he could stand it no longer and turned around. To his dismay, the creature was rolling around on the kitchen floor, laughing so hard tears were coming out of its eyes. Most of the staff had abandoned their tasks and stood around him, Risa and the dragon. Satoshi gulped as he noticed Riku glaring at him, tapping her rolling pin against the palm of her other hand in a menacing way. Abandoning his dignity and reputation, the blue-haired Ice Prince dashed for the Bay, yelling for help.

**Daisuke: **

Daisuke stared up at the ceiling numbly. He couldn't believe that Lady Yuki was dead, and yet he had seen them carrying her body past the door of his room. He wondered how Dark was feeling right now, and whether Satoshi had found out yet. He had been awake for a few hours now, but no one had come in to check him yet, probably because they were so busy with the other wounded soldiers. Daisuke heard a soft sniff, and he turned around to see Quatre, tears pouring down his face. A loud scream rent the otherwise silent air, and Daisuke didn't know how he did it, but…he knew on instinct that it was Dark. _They must've told him, _he thought to himself. He wanted so badly to reach out and hug Dark, tell the purple haired boy that he would still be there for him. He wanted to get out of this bed and go to Dark. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his legs and whole body, Daisuke forced himself to get out of bed.

"Where are you going?" The redhead, so wrapped up in his own thoughts, had completely forgotten about Quatre. "Where are you going?" the blonde repeated. His voice held nothing in it-just curiosity. The redhead turned to face the slightly older soldier and replied that he was going to see Dark.

Quatre smiled slightly. "Ah. Well, since you look like you're in pain, perhaps you'd like me to give you some advice?"

Daisuke nodded. The blonde seemed to be nice enough and besides, the redhead had a feeling that the other boy was full of good intent. "Sure!"

Quatre smiled at the way the boy responded, but he could still feel the teen's pain and sorrow. He too, felt sorrow at Lady Yuki's passing. The spell had taken too much out of her and she had died two hours after the battle. "Well," Quatre said, "Have you made a Fire Platform before?"

Daisuke frowned. "What is a Fire Platform?"

Quatre explained. "Remember the way Satoshi appeared on the battlefield? When he was sitting on that platform of wind?" Daisuke nodded. "Well, it's the same thing except that you use fire."

"Oh," was all Daisuke could say. "What if…?"

As though he had read the other boy's mind, Quatre continued. "It's like all the other times you've handled your powers. Concentrate on getting to Dark. Visualize yourself sitting on a large sheet of fire and moving through the corridors silently. Concentrate on that. Focus on that image. Concentrate…"

Daisuke shut his eyes and tried his best to see the Fire Platform in his mind's eye. However, Dark kept popping up and finally Daisuke just focused on getting to Dark. A large tornado of fire suddenly engulfed him and he disappeared. Quatre smiled. _Dark, you are very lucky to have someone who cares for you so much. _

**Dark's Room: **

Dark was asleep. His eyes were closed and his face was peaceful, but if one bothered to look closely one could see the dried tear trails that had coursed their way down his face as he cried himself to sleep. Bright light suddenly exploded in the room, accompanied by a surprisingly soothing warmth. Daisuke appeared in the room and with a squeak of pain he collapsed on the floor, his legs giving out. Sleepy, swollen amethyst eyes opened to peer around the room before catching sight of the redhead on the ground. "Dai-chan!" Dark fairly shrieked before regaining his composure. "What are you doing here?!"

**Somewhere in the castle stairways: **

Satoshi rushed up the stairs, fervently hoping that he would get to the Bay before Risa caught up to him. Behind him, he could still hear the sound of Risa's footsteps. They abruptly stopped and Satoshi turned around. To his horror and dismay, the brown haired girl was sitting on the floor bawling. _S---! _He thought. _Now what?_

Down below, Risa sobbed. Why didn't Satoshi like her? Was she ugly? Was she stupid? Was she…? Why didn't he like her? She was the perfect girl for him: kind, caring, unselfish, loving and of course cute. Couldn't he see? They were the perfect match!

Satoshi wavered on the stairs. Part of him wanted to go back down and apologise to her for what he had done, but another part of him wanted to just continue up the stairs. His decision was soon made when the dragon told him, She's genuinely crying. Satoshi slowly walked back down the stairs and awkwardly wrapped an arm around the girl, trying to comfort her. After around an hour, Risa finally stopped crying and Satoshi breathed out a sigh of relief. He slowly stood up and reached a hand out to the brown-haired girl, who gratefully took it. The pair stood up and slowly continued up the stairs with the dragon whistling a love song under its breath.

**Daisuke and Dark: **

Daisuke looked up sheepishly at Dark from his current position on the floor. "Well…you see…I saw Lady Yuki too…and…I thought you might want me…" he trailed off blushing furiously.

Dark could only marvel at how selfless Daisuke was. He knew that the redhead must be suffering from the loss too, but he still came over to make sure that Dark was all right. This act of kindness caused the purple haired lord to burst into another fit of tears and grab Daisuke. The redhead choked and spluttered slightly, shocked at first by the sudden loss of oxygen, but soon he recovered as Dark's grip loosened and the lord fell into sobs again. Daisuke forced himself to rub the lord's back and whisper soothing words to him and soon the pair fell into a fitful sleep in each other's arms.

Dark stirred. He felt someone else's magical presence in the room and slowly cracked one purple eye open. His blurry vision caught a glimpse of sky blue and he shot up, immediately wide-awake. In his arms, Daisuke shifted and mumbled something, snuggling closer to Dark in the process. Dark nodded at Satoshi, unable to force anything close to a smile as the previous hours' events tumbled down onto his head.

Satoshi stepped into the room and immediately sensed that something was wrong. The wind swirled around him like a live creature, whispering in his ears. It only served to amplify the stillness in the room and Satoshi slowly asked, "What happened?"

Amethyst met blue and Satoshi was shocked by the pain and sorrow in the violet orbs. "What happened?" he quietly asked. Dark stared at him and then laughed bitterly.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Yes I would," Satoshi said, his voice as even as ever.

Dark was silent for a moment, his eyes drifting downwards to look at Daisuke and he stroked the redhead's hair a couple of times. He slowly looked up at Satoshi and then he noticed Risa standing behind the blue-haired boy, brown eyes fixed on him adoringly. He glared at the girl as a warning to keep her hands off Daisuke. Running a hand through his unruly purple locks, Dark faced Satoshi. "She's dead," he whispered.

The pale boy standing in the doorway turned even paler, if that was at all possible. He slowly walked over to the bed. "I'm sorry," he whispered quietly. Outside, the sun shone as though it had no idea of what had happened inside Castle Hikari. Risa, meanwhile, sniffled and ran to the bed, bawling. She collided with Satoshi and the pair fell forward on top of Dark and Daisuke with Risa on top of Satoshi. Despite his uncomfortable position and the feelings running through him at the loss of his mother, he couldn't help but chuckle. Risa, completely oblivious to everything but the fact that she was on top of her crush, immediately latched onto Satoshi like a leech and continued bawling. It wasn't that her feelings weren't genuine; she could tell that Dark and Daisuke were all sad, and she didn't like seeing her friends sad. Meanwhile, the silver dragon that Satoshi had summoned was cackling away and Dark somehow managed to prop himself up to see where the odd noise was coming from. Purple eyes widened and then twinkled with an evil light. The dragon suddenly stopped laughing and just as Satoshi turned around; it created a sort of mini cyclone. Except…this cyclone was in the shape of a heart. And the heart just happened to be around Satoshi and Risa's heads, making it look like a photo of them in a blue heart-shaped photo frame. Dark could not help but laugh and laugh.

Satoshi jerked up from trying to comfort Risa as soon as he heard Dark laugh. He remembered from past experience that whenever Dark laughed, it was usually because he was in big trouble. A look upwards, and Satoshi immediately knew what the matter was. "SHU!" Abandoning his composure for the umpteenth time, he went after the Sky Dragon with a vengeance. Risa rolled off Satoshi and landed on another empty part of the bed. She quickly got up and ran after Satoshi, asking him what the matter was.

Daisuke, who was now fully awake from all the fuss and commotion, looked at Dark bemusedly. "Wha…?"

Dark finally got himself under control and explained. "Well, you remember that dragon Satoshi summoned?"

Daisuke nodded, smiling. "Well…you know how it has the power to control air just like creepy boy?"

Daisuke again tried to stop Dark from abusing Satoshi's name, but to no abail. "Oh, just let me finish!" The amethyst-eyed lord continued with his story, the grin on his face increasing in size with the saying of every word. When he got to the part about Satoshi jumping off the bed and running after the dragon, Daisuke burst out laughing as well. The two boys laughed together, content for the moment to enjoy each other's company and forget about their troubles.

**Satoshi: **

Satoshi rushed down the stairs, miraculously not tripping over anything or knocking any of the servants out of the way. Suddenly struck by an idea, he stopped. If he remembered correctly, the dragon had told him on one of their little talks that it liked eating…dumplings in soya sauce. The blue-haired boy paused and then continued down the stairs, although this time at a more sedate pace. He would catch the creature, no matter how many dumplings he had to make!

**Daisuke and Dark: **

Dark grinned evilly at Daisuke, pinning him down to the bed. Daisuke had playfully ticked him. This simple action had led to a mini tickle-war with Dark emerging victorious. Daisuke looked up at him, eyes glowing with laughter and happiness. "Now," Dark whispered, an evil glint coming into his eye. "I win."

"Of course," Daisuke replied. "Your point being?"

Dark's grin widened. "I get a prize," he whispered, lowering his face even more so that he was only a few centimetres away from the cute redhead. Without warning, he pressed his lips onto Daisuke's and kissed the redhead almost senseless. They soon got into a heavy make-out session until…

"YO DAISUKE!" The door crashed open and Takeshi barged in, carrying a huge tray of food. "Riku told me to give this stuff to you and Dark, she made it herself though, so be careful!" Daisuke rolled his eyes; it was a known fact that Riku and Takeshi were somewhat at odds with each other. At least she was a better cook than Risa (though he would have died before admitting that before Dark came along). Daisuke gratefully accepted the tray of food from Takeshi and picking up a spoon cautiously, he began to eat. Noticing the look on Dark's face, Daisuke looked at the spoonful of food that he was holding, then at Dark, then back to the food. He beckoned the purple-haired lord over and Dark crawled over, curious. As soon as he settled down again, he found a spoonful of food shoved into his mouth.

"Eat." Daisuke's voice was firm and brooked no argument. Dark slowly chewed the spoonful of chicken contemplating his mother's death. The delicious food turned to ashes in his mouth and he forced himself to chew it, tears pricking his eyes. An odd salty taste filled the roof of his mouth and Dark shut his eyes, trying hard not to cry. He swallowed and without warning a hand draped itself over his shoulders. He looked to his right and saw Daisuke awkwardly trying to hug him (it's a bit hard to hug people when they're lying down). Dark let the emotions wash over him and he sobbed into Daisuke's shoulder. Exhausted from his crying, Dark fell asleep again. Daisuke looked at the lord in his arms and whispered, "I'll always be there for you Dark. I love you, always and forever."

**A few weeks later, in the garden: **

Dark draped himself over Daisuke, purring into the shorter boy's ear as he did so. "Hey Dai-chan," he whispered seductively. Everyone had recovered quickly from the demon battle, thanks to the healers and the relatively relaxed lifestyle that most of them had been leading. The funeral had been about a week before, but Dark knew that he could not mourn over Lady Yuki for the rest of his life; her ghost would probably have come back to haunt him otherwise. He still remembered her, and prayed for her (naturally), He still remembered her, and prayed for her (naturally), but he also remembered to have fun with Daisuke. The redhead smiled slightly, although he had to bend over a little due to Dark's greater height and weight.

"What's the matter?" he asked, smiling. Dark grinned evilly; it was always fun to torture the younger boy.

"I want to…" The purple haired bishounen trailed off, smirking at the heat that rose from the other boy.

Daisuke could not help but blush furiously. Since Dark had gotten over his mother's death, he'd teased the poor redhead mercilessly. The scary part was, he was sure that Dark meant something lewd but he couldn't figure out what it meant for the life of him. Just as Dark was about to complete his sentence (and turn his face an even worse shade of red), Satoshi came over. Behind him, his dragon floated lazily, its silver eyes half closed. The blue-haired genius smirked at the pair. "Do continue, Dark," he drawled, "I'm curious to know what you're teaching Daisuke, since he's started asking me what various…terms mean." The dragon raised an eyebrow and nudged Satoshi with its nose. The blue-haired boy had a feeling that if dragons could smirk, it would have been doing so wildly.

Dark glared at Satoshi. "Why do you always interrupt me when I'm doing something fun?" he asked playfully.

"Because it's my only source of entertainment," came the serene reply. Dark rolled his eyes, and he decided to tease Satoshi a little. _Yeah, show creepy bastard what happens when you and Daisuke are alone, _cracked Evil Dark. True to his inner self (as always), Dark grabbed Daisuke again and pressed his lips to those of the protesting redhead's. Crimson eyes widened in shock and embarrassment, before fists rained down on Dark's back. The purple haired boy just ignored them; they didn't hurt very much anyway-and continued to kiss Daisuke. He nibbled gently at the younger boy's bottom lip and felt him give in as his mouth opened and allowed Dark to explore it.

Dark moaned quietly as he slipped his tongue into Daisuke's mouth and one of his hands wrapped themselves around Daisuke's waist. They were just going into the stage of wandering hands when…

"All right boys, break it up, break it up!" Riku came into the garden, her voice as businesslike as ever. "Have you seen…oh no wait, he's there." Riku turned to Satoshi and told him, "You'd better go see Risa, she's been whinging about your ignoring her all day."

Satoshi sighed, got up of the grass, dusted himself off and walked away. Dark could not resist the opportunity and began to sing one of the most embarrassing and sappiest love ballads that he could think of. The blue haired boy growled quietly and suddenly made a gesture with his hand. Without warning, a Wind Cage surrounded Dark and the lord growled quietly as he sat down to wait for the spell to dissolve on its own. Daisuke could not help but blush as his senses returned and he realised that Satoshi and Riku had both been watching Dark turn him into a puddle of goo.

**Two hours later: **

Dark glared at the light blue cage of magic surrounding him. It had actively resisted all of his efforts to make it disappear faster and for some reason, Daisuke did not help him. He settled down to think over the events of the past few weeks and his mind lingered on the funeral and the final moments before the burial.

_Flashback_

_Dark stared at the handful of earth in his hand. He couldn't help but think that it was so ironical; one of the greatest pacifists ever born died in a war. The rain beat down on the crowd, but no one cared because they all felt the loss of Lady Yuki greatly. As though he was moving in slow motion, Daisuke saw Dark toss the earth into the grace, of top of the coffin. He then slowly sank to his knees, face buried in his hands. Daisuke rushed over immediately and hugged Dark, red eyes shimmering with tears both for Lady Yuki and her son. _

_End Flashback_

Dark could not help but sniff a little as he remembered that day. Through it all though, Daisuke had been with him. Daisuke. The cheerful redhead with a sunny disposition who trusted everyone despite all the stuff that he'd had to go through with Krad. He managed to stay smiling and happy no matter what happened, and he was always willing to help. 'I love him,' Dark thought. 'I'll always love him, no matter what.'

The shield around him suddenly disappeared and a large tornado blew up in front of the lord. When it disappeared, Satoshi stood in front of him. "Nice to know you think so highly of Daisuke," the azure-eyed boy commented. At the look on Dark's face, Satoshi's lips quirked upwards in an almost smile. He sat down next to Dark. "When's the ceremony?" he casually asked.

Dark's eyes widened. "…I don't know," he honestly replied. "I don't know if Daisuke'll accept me."

Satoshi rolled his eyes. "Of course he will! Do you know just how much he loves you?!"

Dark frowned. He'd always _thought _Daisuke loved him, but…was it really true? What if Daisuke just put up with him because he'd saved him from a life of misery with Krad? What if the boy felt that he was obliged to Dark, and therefore let him kiss, touch, hold him? What if…?

Satoshi groaned inwardly. He hadn't meant to make Dark doubt Daisuke's love, it was just that…he didn't want Daisuke to end up in a bad marriage. "All right Dark," he said dryly. "Do _you _love Daisuke?" Dark rolled his eyes but played along. _Rule number one: Please your loved one's friends and family, _cackled Evil Dark. Satoshi raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"Of course I do! Are you nuts?!"

Satoshi smirked. "If I receive that kind of reply, it had better be the truth." Then his face turned serious. "Hurt Daisuke in any way, and I will hunt you down and destroy you." Dark looked at Satoshi's face for any hint of a joke, but he could see that the Head of the Kitchens was deadly serious. Dark swallowed back a sarcastic comment and nodded. Even he could tell when to stop joking around. Satoshi was apparently satisfied with Dark's answer and left. Just before he vanished though, he turned back and said, "Better keep his love then, before you lose it or he does." Dark sat on the ground for a little while longer, just thinking, and he got up and dusted off his pants before heading towards the castle purposefully.

**Five days later: **

Daisuke swallowed hard as he looked at the crowds of people. He couldn't believe it; he was finally getting married. After Satoshi had had a 'little talk' with Dark, the purple haired lord had proposed. He'd confessed his love for the redhead (aw) and it had led to a heavy make-out session, which had led to Satoshi coming in and telling Dark to leave Daisuke's virtue alone until their wedding night. This had resulted in a furiously blushing redhead and a snickering purple-haired boy. The day had somehow sneaked up on him and he hadn't even realised until…well, until Takeshi had barged into the room at an unholy hour and woken him up, telling him that it was tradition for the bride to wake up incredibly early and prepare for the groom. The black haired boy had received a pillow in his face for this blatant lie but in any case, Daisuke was up and ready for Dark (minds OUT of the gutter this instant, I say!) and he was going to be married. Two minutes after Daisuke had arrived; Dark arrived on the castle grounds where the marriage was to take place. Daisuke caught his breath; true to his name, Dark was dressed in dark colours such as black and purple. However, he looked good in them and the redhead felt himself blush at the thought of marrying this man.

Dark resisted the urge to grab Daisuke and kiss him senseless on the spot (not to mention do other things to him) but he highly suspected that anything further than a kiss would have Satoshi locking them both in the barn for the night (not that that was a bad thing of course). The priest came in, a benign smile on his face. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he announced to the crowd, "we are here today to witness the marriage of Lord Dark Mousy and Daisuke Niwa." The crowd clapped enthusiastically. To both Daisuke and Dark, the ceremony could not end quickly enough and just as the priest had started saying, "You may now kiss your new husband," Dark grabbed Daisuke and kissed the other teen senseless. The pair fell to the ground, hands going all over the place. Satoshi was horrified and amused at the same time, and he quickly helped herd the younger children out of eyeshot. The priest, on the other hand, needed no help. He quickly ran out of the area and blessed the couple on his way out. Needless to say, Dark and Daisuke did some very R rated things that night. Oh, and the story ends as all good stories should; they all lived happily ever after.

* * *

Whew! That was a LOT of effort. Thank you so much to everyone who supported and/or reviewed me for this fanfic, I appreciate it very much! Luv you, Happy New Year. 

Shoutouts:

Staryday: I am so sorry I didn't make some bits of the previous chapter clear. You know the bit where Daisuke was caught in the ice and Satoshi didn't save him? It was because he was trying to keep everyone back and all. I think…anyway thank you so much for your support.

Keeper of Light: Thank you for your review, I really appreciated it. And yes, I do want to update, thank you for your psychic help in pointing out what I really want (lol).

Best wishes for the New Year, Happy New Year once again. Reviews please!


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